His Last Horcrux
by XQR
Summary: Harry was conceived under the effects of a love potion, Snape is his father and Voldemort is interested in using the boy for a purpose unknown. Things go wrong, the dark lord will rise again and he will share a special relationship with Harry. Yaoi. TRHP.
1. 1st Year

A/N: A product of my time in the gym. It started with an idea and grew to be a monster. XD It's TMR/HP in the end (it's like in the second arc ^^;).

**His Last Horcrux**

"You're sure, Severus?"

Voldemort stood, staring out of the window of the small dark room. He had just had Snape tell him of the prophecy he had overheard and knew that now the time had finally come to act (not that he wasn't doing stuff already). Snape had mentioned that he had only heard the first part of the prophecy and this troubled the Dark Lord somewhat. How much more had been foretold? Would it be wise to act on that first part?

"I am as sure as I can be," Severus told him.

Voldemort turned to look at the young man. There was no trace of a lie in his eyes. "You may leave."

He waited until the door closed before sitting down, his head resting on one hand and a quill in the other as he thought.

He must have sat there for an hour, maybe slightly more, before he got up. A plan had been formed but the parchment in front of him remained blank. He swept down the stairs and into the large dining room of the Riddle house.

"Bella, your arm," Voldemort said as he entered the room. She was always in the dining room, waiting for a time like now when she could be of use to her master. She held out her left arm with the sleeve rolled up and felt the tip of a wand upon it.

Within minutes Death Eaters had begun to arrive and during that time Voldemort had lit the candles and conjured up a few more chairs.

"My friends, I require some assistance with my next plan," Voldemort announced. "I must find every magical child that was born at the end of July this year."

"Would you like them brought here, my Lord?" Rudolphous asked.

"No, just find them. I want to know their names, parents and where they are residing currently."

"Is that all?" Amycus asked.

Voldemort paused before answering. "Yes, that is all. Those who provide good information will be rewarded."

A year passed during which Voldemort continued with his plans take over the ministry, kill Mudbloods and Muggles and purify the wizarding world. Unfortunately the Order of the Phoenix was putting up a good fight on that front. As for his other plan, he had established that only two children had been born at the end of July that fitted the criteria of having parents that had escaped him three times. Now he had to choose one, to _mark one as his equal._ Neville Longbottom, a pure blood…or Harry Potter, a half-blood? Deep down he knew which he would choose. Of course he would choose the half-blood, that was just the way he did things. There was just the small matter of finding the child now. It seemed that Dumbledore, ever the saint, had put both boys into hiding.

Another meeting was called; he put the Death Eaters to the task of finding out where the Potters lived.

"I want them found by any means necessary, but do not let them know that you have found them."

Later that night he found himself in the small dark room once again with Severus. It was unusual for people to disturb him after he had dismissed them and curiosity combined with a slight fondness led to Voldemort inviting the young man in.

"My Lord, I beg you, please do not kill Potter!" Severus was on the floor at Voldemort's feet. He could see Snape's eyes shimmering, threatening to spill over at any moment.

"My, what has gotten into you, Severus?" Voldemort was rather bemused.

Severus took a moment to compose himself. "Harry is…he's my son."

Voldemort blinked. He wanted to laugh. What was this? A joke? Instead he said, "Explain."

"I have always loved Lily Evans," Snape began. "And I've always hated James Potter."

Voldemort took a seat and listened to the rest of the tale which almost seemed like a dream Snape had imagined for himself. Unfortunately Voldemort knew only too well how likely it was that every word was true.

Snape had visited Lily when James had gone on holiday with his friends just before his wedding. During those two weeks he had slipped Lily a love potion which had the desired effect and Severus was the happiest he had ever been and ever would be. Later in life he would say that his greatest desire was to see Lily happy, but during this period with Lily loving him like she loved James, he didn't care that he was deluding them both. All he had wanted from the potion was a kiss from the only love of his life, but it had been stronger than he had thought and things went further.

"She thought, and still thinks, that Harry is James'."

"Are you sure he isn't?" Voldemort asked.

Snape nodded. "The potion is always right."

Voldemort inclined his head. He remembered the paternity potion. Like the Polyjuice potion it required something like a hair from the child. Once added the father would drink the potion, if it tasted nice then the child was yours. If the child wasn't then you would probably end up spitting the potion out due to the horrible taste. He himself had given the potion to his own father before killing him. At such a young age he had been willing to believe that there was the slightest chance that Tom Riddle Senior was not his father and that everyone had got it wrong. Yet when he saw the muggle drown the glass without a wince he knew that he had been foolish to let himself fantasize about such an absurd idea.

"Tell me; was Lily definitely under the effects of the potion at the time?"

"Of course. Had she not been she would have…Well, she was the one who led me on," Snape confessed. "The Lily I know never would have knowingly been unfaithful to James."

"Give me a few minutes to think," Voldemort said.

Snape left the room and stood outside leaning against the wall. He had never told anyone this and he never intended to. Naturally he wanted to imagine that one day Harry would grow up and then he could be told the truth. But Snape couldn't face the idea that on that day Lily would find out what he had done to her. She had trusted him and then he had betrayed her.

Voldemort opened the door and gleaming red eyes met scared black ones. "I have decided on the course of action, Severus. I wouldn't look so worried."

Halloween arrived. The time had come for the plan to be carried out. The Longbottom's had been located a lot more easily than the Potters – did Dumbledore know what Voldemort had been originally planning? Peter Pettigrew had been persuaded, or rather forced, to hand over the information that was required. But he had been difficult to find, being the rat he was.

The Dark Lord sat with a small group of his most loyal Death Eaters.

"Tonight I will go and kill the boy Neville Longbottom," Voldemort announced. "Bella, if I spare his parents you may have them to play with." Bellatrix giggled. "I will also pay the Potters a visit before that as I have business with their child too."

"My Lord, do you require back up?" Bellatrix asked.

"That will not be necessary. I am more than capable of killing an infant and visiting another." Voldemort got up and Severus did simultaneously. "Is there a problem, Severus?"

"What will you do with him, my Lord?"

Voldemort chuckled. "I told you not to worry. He will be alive by the end of it."

"The end of what?"

"That is for me to know and for you to maybe find out in the future. Maybe."

"Please, spare Lily," Severus pleaded one last time. "Do what you will with James."

Voldemort smiled. "I'm glad I have your approval." Then he left.

The other Death Eaters looked at Snape, intrigued by the conversation they had just heard and slightly surprised that Snape still stood unharmed. None of them had ever dared ask as much as Severus had, let alone ask him to spare someone. Snape noticed them all staring at him and then practically ran from the room.

Voldemort was already inside the house when Snape arrived at Godric's Hollow. He saw a flash of green through the living room window; James was dead. Snape felt nothing at the thought of James' death. After all the years they had spent together at school, he was happy at the idea of never seeing him again.

Now he only had to wait a few minutes, surely the Dark Lord would be finished with the child quickly. From where he stood he could see shadows moving in the upstairs bedroom. What was the Dark Lord going to do? He said Harry would live, but that didn't mean that he would be unharmed…

A second flash of green.

Severus moved instantly, running across the street and straight through the front door. He stepped over James' body and continued up the stairs. It took all of his strength to push open the door at the end of the hall. The scene was a mixture of relief and pain. The first thing he heard was the sound of a baby crying; Harry was safe. Then his eyes swept the floor. Not one, but two bodies. Red hair…

"Lily!"

Snape dropped to the floor and lifted her lifeless form into his arms. He whispered her name over and over, but he knew that she would never wake.

Through watery eyes he could see the other body clothed in black – Voldemort was dead?

He had no time to check anything; he could hear someone moving downstairs. He gently laid Lily down and took one last look at his son who he now realised bore a lightening bolt scar on his forehead. He jumped out of the window, using magic to break his fall before disapparating outside the bounds of the fidelius charm.

Harry had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle that night. Severus didn't have the courage to speak up and take the child himself. Apart from that he was in no fit state to take on a child; he had no job, his master was gone and he didn't know how to care for a child properly.

The following week a funeral was held for the Potters. People from all over came to pay their respects to those that they now considered heroes of the wizarding world. Snape attended to say his final goodbye to the one he loved so dearly.

"Severus, why do you hide?" Dumbledore asked.

Snape had come looking like an older man using polyjuice potion. "You know far more than people give you credit for," Severus noted.

They talked for a long while, until after the effects of the potion had worn off. Snape confided in Dumbledore and Dumbledore offered Snape a position at Hogwarts. All seemed to be well. However, as much as they trusted each other, Snape couldn't bring himself to ever tell Dumbledore the truth. He had told him about how much he had loved Lily, but never the truth about Harry. They both wondered about Harry though. About the prophecy and whether Harry was the one it now referred to. Voldemort's intention was to make it about Neville, but he had never visited the Longbottom's that night.

From a young age Harry knew that he wasn't what his aunt and uncle would class as 'normal.' Dudley, being the bigger and more spoilt of the two had always been a bit of a bully. That was until they were 6. They had been playing in the living room – Dudley with his large remote controlled cars and Harry with his small wooden trains. At one point Dudley decided that he would much rather play with trains than cars, so he took the trains from Harry easily.

"Fine, but I want the cars," Harry said.

Dudley laughed. "No, they're mine."

"But those are my trains."

"They _used _to be mine before I got bored of them."

Harry was getting annoyed now. Why was his cousin always so difficult?

"Is there anything I can play with?" Harry asked.

Dudley paused for a moment. "NO!" He laughed loudly as he drove the train along the coffee table.

Harry was staring intently at the little red train. Then it stopped. He could see Dudley desperately trying to move it, but it seemed to have suddenly stuck to the table with superglue.

"What are you doing?" Dudley shouted when he noticed Harry's intense stare.

"Huh?" Harry looked up and the train moved once more.

Of course, that incident was a minor one, the first time Harry had noticed his own powers. Things were going to get worse, for Dudley at least. Harry had gone back to his cupboard under the stairs that night and tried to do things to his toy soldiers but to no avail. There were only a few times over the next few years where he successfully did these magical acts. When Dudley got a box of magic tricks for his 9th birthday Harry desperately wanted to try it out, even going as far as going upstairs and knocking on Dudley's bedroom door. Naturally Dudley said no and didn't even open the door. Harry had noticed that there was a book included in the set, which is what Harry wished to get his hands on the most. It would have been easy to steal it from Dudley when he was asleep, but Dudley had had a lock installed many years ago to protect all of his toys from Harry. Instead, Harry went to the library. He found a small selection of books related to 'magic,' but none of them described things close to what he had managed; those things were only found in fictional books.

School had been neither easy nor fun for Harry. Some days he was actually happy to return home to number 4 Privet Drive, at least there he didn't have children making fun of him all the time.

"Why don't you get some clothes of your own, Potter?" Dudley had made sure that they all knew that Harry's clothes were hand me downs. They were especially bad when something new came into fashion and Harry was the only one that didn't have whatever it was. It was times like this that he wished he'd been sent to a school where they had uniform. At least there they would all dress the same.

It was an unusually warm March afternoon in the playground. Harry sat on a bench alone, as usual reading a book. Then someone sat down beside him. Dudley. He looked up to see Dudley's tall friends around him blocking out the sun. Dudley pulled Harry up by the neck of his large shirt and marched him over to the sheds where they were out of view from teachers.

"What were you reading?" Dudley demanded as he shoved Harry against the shed.

"Nothing," Harry said.

"Didn't look like that."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It was a book about magic." A fictional one.

Dudley let go of Harry like he was something dirty. He had become very wary of Harry when he mentioned things like that; he had usually been present when Harry had managed to pull off once of his amazing feats. "I'm telling mum and dad when I get home."

Harry smirked. "Go ahead."

Dudley growled. He hated it when Harry cast aside his threats. Recently Harry had been hard to bully because he didn't seem to care anymore.

"Grab him," Dudley told his friends. They went to take Harry's skinny arms and raise them, but they couldn't.

"He's got strong, Dud," one said.

"He ain't got any muscles though," the other remarked.

Dudley surged forward and tried to lift Harry's arms himself. They seemed to be made of steel and wouldn't budge from his sides.

"How are you doing that, you scrawny git?" Dudley said, frustrated.

Harry said nothing and stood there looking straight ahead.

"I'm talking to you!" Dudley brought up a fist intended for Harry's stomach. The fist never got there though. Harry had reacted quickly and grabbed Dudley's forearm, stopping him. "Let go of me!" Dudley yelled. Harry did nothing. "You're hurting me!" Dudley began to scream. "Let go! Let go! You'll break my arm!"

Dudley's 'friends' watched Dudley crumble under Harry's grip and moved away, running.

"Please! Harry, please!"

Harry let go, he had enjoyed being the one in power, but Dudley's begging reminded him of where he was and what would happen to him if Dudley went home with a broken arm. Dudley was on the floor, clutching his arm which was very red.

"If I were you I wouldn't tell anyone about this," Harry said monotonously. "You never know, I might break your arm next time."

Dudley was scared of Harry from that day on - which was all good in Harry's eyes. He enjoyed the rest of school in a care free way, without fear of an attack from his cousin. At home he also felt the benefits with Dudley being more likely to give Harry a bit of his cake when his parents weren't looking.

The summer whizzed by; Harry had been unsuccessful in securing one of the many letters addressed to him, Hagrid had rescued him (Snape still, after 10 years, he not been honest with Dumbledore) and Harry spent the rest of his time at the Dursley's finally knowing that he wasn't going to spend the next 7 years under their roof. He was overjoyed and couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts.

Harry spent the train ride with Ron Weasley, eating more sweets than he ever had in his life. He listened to tales of famous witches and wizards that Ron had heard from his mother. Of course, Ron was more interested in Harry; he was famous in the wizarding world. Hagrid had finally told him the truth about his parents and Harry knew that whoever this Voldemort was, he wanted him dead. He had stolen a much better childhood from Harry, something that he could never get back. But of course, it had been Harry that had led to Voldemort's death. So really, he had had his revenge. Maybe it was because he had been an infant when it happened, but Harry felt that justice had not been done. During the ride across the black lake he decided that he would not dwell on the past and would make the most of his magical education which looked promising as he gazed at the castle.

As they stood waiting for the sorting ceremony to start, a boy stepped towards Harry. He was blond with cold grey eyes. Like a lot of other he had met, he knew who Harry was on sight (Harry was beginning to think this was a little unfair), but he also recognised Ron.

"You'll come to learn that some wizarding families are better than others. I can help you there." The boy who had introduced himself as Draco Malfoy held out his hand.

Harry did not like the way that this boy had just spoken to Ron, but he wanted so desperately to be accepted here and gain friends that he took the hand and shook it briefly before Professor McGonagall returned to lead them into the Great Hall. It was amazing. The most amazing thing Harry had ever seen. This was the sort of room that he would expect to see in a church or palace, not a school.

Snape watched as the first years walked up the centre aisle. It had been 10 years since he had last seen Harry. In that time he had only heard rumours about how the boy had turned out. As they crowded before the stool and staff table, Snape was finally able to pick Harry out from the crowd. There was the lightening scar that he had seen all those years ago. Glasses now framed the green eyes of his mother. Messy black hair everyone said he'd inherited from James, but it was his, Severus's hair. James' hair was never that dark. Now he looked at Harry's face.

"He's the spitting image of James," they had all said.

Snape disagreed. They all said that because that's what you do with kids, you decide which parent they inherited such and such from. Snape thought that Harry looked more like a male version of Lily, but he was small and thin, like he had been when he was younger.

"Potter, Harry," McGonagall called.

The sound of the name and the whispers brought Snape back to the present and he watched as his son took a seat and had the Sorting hat placed on his head.

Harry could hear the Sorting hat's thoughts. But where would he most like to be? He only really knew anything about Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry waited patiently. He didn't know enough to try and sway the Hat's decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry walked over to the table where people sat with robes lined with green and sat down next to Malfoy who smiled at him. When dinner commenced he had to listen to Malfoy tell him everything he knew about Hogwarts and the teachers at the high table.

"He's been staring at me a lot," Harry said when Draco had said a little about how Snape was friends with his father. Then again, Draco's father seemed to be acquainted with many people.

Snape was still having a proud father moment. Not many people got to see their children sorted and for Harry to be in his own house made him more happy than he had been in a long time. It showed just what kind of person Harry had become and at least that was not a Hufflepuff.

Harry did not have potions until Friday and as the first week was always busy, it would be the first chance that Snape would get to talk to him and hear his voice. For the first time since taking the post, Snape wished that Heads of House left less to the prefects and did more themselves.

When Friday morning finally rolled around, Snape was very glad that he had perfected the art of concealing emotions, because when Harry walked in dressed in his Slytherin uniform Snape really just wanted to hug him. He proceeded with the lesson as he normally would, setting them a simple potion to try. Whilst they were brewing he hovered around, looking out for the bright sparks and getting to know the new recruits in his house. As much as he wanted to question Harry, he found that he spent more time talking to the other Slytherins. Admittedly he was slightly nervous and didn't want to seem like he had favourites already.

At the end of the lesson he looked over the potions and was pleased to see that Harry's was slightly better than the average first year potion he'd expect. Hermione Granger's potion was the best which he guessed he had to be happy with.

"Goodbye, Professor," Harry and Draco chimed as they left the classroom.

He wanted so much to tell Harry to call him 'dad' or something. But he couldn't do that. He had to remain ignorant, remain Harry Potter. Not Harry Snape (or even Harry Evans). He let out a sigh; at least Harry had found a friend.

Draco and Harry became known troublemakers and some said that one day they would over take Fred and George Weasley. Just like the Weasleys they were good at slipping out of the hands of teachers and Filch, escaping the consequences of their actions. When Christmas came it was taken to a new level because Harry received an invisibility cloak which only helped them to cause havoc. Under it they took a trip to the off limits third floor corridor, where they were surprised to find a three headed dog. They decided they wouldn't be going there again any time soon.

Their favourite thing to do was set traps which usually had unsuspecting Hufflepuffs as their victims. Unfortunately one time Professor Flitwick had walked past and ended up hanging from the ceiling momentarily and the pair was caught by the charms teacher. They served their first detention with Filch who had them cleaning things in the trophy room, which Harry thought looked clean enough before they started. Draco made their time a little more interesting by telling Harry anything he could about the people who had won the awards.

"James Potter, Gryffindor seeker," Harry read from a gold shield. "My dad…"

"A Gryffindor?" Draco echoed.

"Yeah…I wonder if my mum was a Slytherin."

"Probably," Draco said. "Don't know much about your dad though…sorry, Harry."

Harry smiled at the shield and put extra effort into making it shine.

Harry and Draco did not put all their time into practical jokes and annoying the rest of the school. Draco had taught Harry how to play Quidditch and they often snuck onto the pitch to play one on one. Some of the students had begun to notice and so their games grew until they had enough players to have a full on Slytherin vs Ravenclaw match. To make sure they weren't spotted they set up some goal hoops that were lower so that the stands shielded them from view. The match lasted 15 minutes before the teachers found out. No one could control the golden snitch and Harry and the Ravenclaw seeker went chasing it, in plain view of those in the grounds. At first it was just a few students in the grounds coming to watch, but the teachers noticed them all flogging to the pitch and swiftly followed. The match was stopped immediately by Professor McGonagall and the players were sent to their heads of house.

"Please, Professor, it was just a bit of fun," one Ravenclaw said.

"Off to Professor Flitwick now!" McGonagall insisted.

Harry and the rest of the Slytherin team slumped down to the dungeons. Harry had never been to Snape's office before and was surprised to find it quite small, but just big enough to accommodate the 7 players.

Snape looked at the Slytherins before him, first years, second years and a third year. He guessed that he couldn't let this go, they were young, most of them were only playing because they hadn't made the official team and thus they could have been injured. He was surprised to find that the match had lasted so long without a single injury. Snape looked at Harry. He wasn't surprised to see him there after the reputation Harry had built since arriving at Hogwarts, he was just glad to see him here in one piece.

"You will all receive detention," Snape said. "Tomorrow evening in the potions classroom for one hour."

Most sighed in relief, an hour detention was short in comparison to most others.

Ron and Harry had not spoken much since the train journey. Perhaps because they were put in rival houses, or maybe it was because Draco seemed to severely dislike anyone with the surname Weasley. It pleased Harry to see that Ron had made friends with Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. Harry and Hermione had unspoken rivalry in certain subjects, like potions, where they both strived to be better than other. Neville on the other hand…well, it made Harry wonder how he had become friends with the other two.

It was late April when Harry and Ron finally met alone and spoke. Well, they didn't exactly meet, they both received detention from Professor Quirrell for not completing their homework. Quirrell left them in the classroom while he went into his office and Ron took his chance.

"Hey, Harry?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" Harry said.

"You alright?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." Harry found it a slightly weird question.

"I mean, is the wizarding world and Hogwarts all you wanted it to be?"

"Oh." Harry had almost forgotten about the Muggle world. "All I wanted and more."

Ron smiled. "Slytherin's not a bad place then?"

"Nah, it's quite good. How's Gryffindor?"

"It's great. Although my brothers lied about some things."

Harry laughed. It seemed like the kind of thing Fred and George would do.

"I thought…" Ron paused. "Nevermind."

"You thought what?" Harry asked, intrigued.

Ron turned a red colour. "I thought that you were going to tell me to get stuffed like most of the other Slytherins. But I guess you aren't all bad."

"I know we haven't spoken, but you were good company on the train. I'm not going to suddenly hate you because Malfoy does."

"Look, Harry, I've got another tale for you," Ron said. "How much do you know about Snape?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Not much I guess apart from what everyone knows. I don't see him much apart from in potions."

"Well…" Ron recounted what he, Hermione and Neville had found out about the Philosopher's Stone and how they suspected Snape in the matter.

Harry was enthralled by the tale. It was definitely something you'd find in a fairytale – a stone that not only made you immortal, but could turn any metal to gold. He wanted it.

"So, do you think Snape might be trying to steal it?" Ron asked, snapping Harry out of his day dream.

"Well, I would want it and I don't see why Snape wouldn't too."

This seemed to be what Ron wanted to hear.

Quirrell walked back out of his office and looked surprised to see the boys sitting there.

"Ah, well, o-off you go boys," he said.

Harry and Ron picked up their things and walked out into the corridor.

"Ron, do you know where the stone is?" Harry asked.

"We think it's on down the forbidden corridor on the third floor."

"The one with the dog?"

Ron nodded. There was a short silence before Ron asked, "Have you ever seen a dragon?"

"No."

"Well, do you want to?" Ron asked.

"Why not," Harry said. "Where is it?"

"Hagrid's got one."

Harry hadn't been to see Hagrid since the first week of term and when Harry walked through the door he received a bone crushing hug from the half-giant.

"Oh, 'Arry, you've come jus' in time to see 'im hatch." Hagrid walked over to the fireplace and produced an egg from the cauldron there.

"Are you going to keep him here?" Hermione asked. Harry hadn't noticed she was there; he had been too busy staring at the dragon's egg which bore an intricate pattern on the shell.

"Of course I am," Hagrid said. "Can' let 'im go out on 'is own – he'd die."

The egg hatched a few minutes later and a small pale green dragon was revealed. Harry, Ron and Hermione did not stay long after the dragon hatched; it was dark and first years should have been in bed half and hour ago.

The three of them walked up to the castle to find Draco and McGonagall waiting for them.

"Excellent, Potter, you've brought them back," Draco said.

Harry was confused. Brought them back? What did that mean?

McGonagall took them to her office where she told them they would be receiving detention.

"All four of you."

Malfoy said that he hadn't done anything wrong and that Harry had just been escorting the Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall was not convinced.

Ironically they had detention with Hagrid. For the first time Harry was going into the Forbidden Forest. Harry wondered why he and Draco had never ventured in there before…maybe because there wasn't anything in there of interest, or perhaps they didn't know enough magic to defend themselves if they found something like a werewolf. They split up, Harry and Draco went off together, Draco clutching onto the lamp that Hagrid had given them and sticking by Fang.

"What was that?" Draco asked.

"What was what?" Harry asked.

"That noise – didn't you hear it?"

Harry shrugged. "You must be imagining things." He hadn't seen this side of Draco before. The blond boy was a being a bit of a wimp, but he had always put on a front that he hadn't been scared of anything. Maybe it was the tall trees or the darkness. Personally, Harry loved it. There was so much to explore here and lots of places to hide.

They turned at the next tree and Draco made a noise at a pitch higher than Harry thought possible. He saw Draco's pale hand pointing ahead of him and Harry looked to see a brilliant white unicorn on the ground. He took a step closer and then noticed the hooded figure that was drinking from the unicorn. Without thinking Harry moved closer again.

"Harry!" Draco hissed.

The figure raised it head, but the hood covered it completely. At that moment Harry felt a searing pain in his head, his scar was burning. He fell to the floor as the figure approached. The sound of a lamp smashing – Draco must have run for it. Then there was the sound of hooves. Harry looked up to see a centaur in place of the figure. The centaur helped him to his feet and they had a short conversation before Hagrid arrived.

"Harry, are you okay?" Draco asked in the common room that night. Everyone else had gone to bed and they were alone now.

"Sure." It was a lie. Harry was not really alright. He thought that on the day he had arrived here he had buried the past, but now those feelings of revenge returned. The centaur had told him that the figure was Voldemort and that he intended to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry knew what to do. What he wanted to do. He wanted to steal the stone before Voldemort. Stop him achieving happiness, kill him once more.

Harry looked at Draco who had run and left him in the forest. He could have died at the hands of Voldemort right there. Harry had considered telling Draco about the stone, but now he was glad he hadn't and he wasn't going to. This was something he had to do alone, anyway.

"I'm going to bed," Harry said as he got up.

He didn't really want to go to bed, but he was exhausted. What he wanted was to put on his invisibility cloak and go down to the third floor corridor. The only flaw in his plan was that he had no idea how to get past the three headed dog…

The next day seemed to drag on. Harry went through the day staring out the window, imagining how the night would play out. After a boring day of Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Charms he went to dinner with Malfoy trailing after him.

"Harry, what's wrong with you?" Draco asked.

"Hmm? Nothing," Harry said.

Draco eyed him suspiciously. "Harry, you're a bad liar."

Harry shrugged. "Give it a rest, Draco."

The blond boy seemed put out. "What did that centaur say to you last night?"

"Nothing," Harry said too quickly. He picked up a few items of food and left the hall. He went straight to the common room and ate there where he had time and space to think to himself. He didn't know why he was suddenly so on edge. Maybe it was the idea that tonight he was going to get his revenge, or perhaps he'd realised that Draco just wasn't the friend he thought he was. Would he have been better off in Gryffindor with Ron?

No. This was where he was destined to be. He was a Slytherin and proud of it.

All too soon, people were pouring into the common room, back from dinner. Harry played a few games of wizard chess with a fifth year before going up to bed. But of course, he wasn't going to sleep. He lay there, staring at the green and silver bed curtains and feigned sleep when he heard someone coming up the stairs to the dormitory.

Down in the dungeons it was difficult to tell when night had fallen because the black lake blocked out most of the sunlight even on a sunny day. Harry looked at his watch and saw it was approaching midnight. Now was a better time than ever he decided and snuck out of bed, throwing the invisibility cloak over himself. He strolled up to the third floor corridor with no problems, Peeves wasn't about and neither was Filch or Mrs. Norris. To be honest, he hadn't figured out what he was going to do when he opened the door and saw the three headed dog. He figured he'd try a charm…of some description. Luckily he found a harp playing when he arrived and the trapdoor already open. It was almost as if he had taken some Felix Felicis.

"Lumos maxima," he whispered and pointed his wand through the trap door. There was something green. Carefully he dropped down and landed softly on the green thing which turned out to be a plant. He felt it begin to wrap around his ankles and immediately struggled to get to the door. The plant let up easier than he'd expected, but he guessed that someone had already been here by the tendrils that were snapped and cut from the body of the plant.

The next room full of flying keys was a simple task due to all the illegal games he and Draco had played over the year. When he reached the room housing a giant chessboard he found Hermione cradling Ron in her arms.

"Harry!" Hermione called.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, looking at the broken chess pieces.

Hermione was not aware that Ron had told Harry about the stone and was reluctant to say anything about it. "We played a chess game and Ron got hurt. Neville's gone on."

Harry couldn't see how it was logical to send Neville on instead of Hermione going herself, but now was not the time to question that.

"Has anyone got the stone yet?"

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it, then spoke. "No, but someone definitely got here before us."

Harry nodded and continued to the door on the other side of the room.

"Harry, be careful," Hermione called after him.

Nice of her, Harry thought. But now was not the time to decide who was nice and who wasn't.

Through the next door he found Neville lying on the floor out cold. Reading the riddle Harry wondered how Neville could have got it wrong and figured that Neville should, according to the riddle, be dead. The teachers must not want to kill people, Harry thought. Although this was Snape's test… Harry picked up the correct potion and drunk it before walking through the flames where he found the final room and someone he didn't expect to see.

Professor Quirrell stood looking into a mirror.

"Professor?" Harry said to get his attention.

Quirrell turned and had a great look of surprise on his face. "Potter?"

There was a moment of silence where they both stared at each other. Clearly this was an unexpected turn of events for both parties.

Quirrell spoke first, his usual stutter disappearing. "Where's Longbottom?"

"Out cold in the previous room," Harry said. "What do you want with him?"

Quirrell shook his head. "He never had any common sense, that boy. But never mind, I'm sure you will be fine all the same."

Harry was confused. What could Neville be useful for? Quirrell motioned to Harry to step forward and stand beside him.

"Look in the mirror and tell me what you see," Quirrell said.

In the mirror Harry saw himself take a blood red stone from his pocket. He didn't need to be told that it was the Philosopher's stone. Then a weight in his pocket…did this mirror do what he wanted it to do?

"Professor, what does this mirror do?" Harry asked.

"It shows us what we most desire. Tell me, what is it you most desire, Potter? _What do you see?"_

Suddenly Harry knew what he must do. "I see my parents." If Quirrell had any heart he would believe Harry's lie, because Harry was sure that that was what he would see if he had not known about the stone.

"You're lying," Quirrell said.

Harry was astonished. How could _Quirrell _tell? The one teacher that seemed to have no idea about anything was able to tell that he was lying… Quirrell was mumbling to himself and then he was unravelling the turban on his head. Harry, along with the rest of Hogwarts, had wondered all year about what was under Quirrell's turban. Now that Harry was about to find out, he suddenly didn't want to know. Harry backed away from Quirrell and the mirror and watched as the turban was completely removed, revealing the back of Quirrell's head which was actually another face.

Harry stared into red eyes and knew that this was Voldemort.

Voldemort's face smiled at him. "Harry, so good to see you again." His voice sounded weak and cracked.

"Voldemort," Harry breathed.

The smile widened. "Beautiful," Voldemort remarked.

Harry's eyes narrowed. Voldemort was very good at confusing people, it seemed.

"How is your father?" Voldemort asked casually.

"Dead," Harry said through gritted teeth. "Thanks to you."

Voldemort's eyes widened. "Was it grief over dear Lily?"

Harry didn't understand. "What are you playing at? You killed him yourself!"

Voldemort's face relaxed and something like a laugh escaped his lips. "When you lied about seeing your parents in the mirror, did you mean James Potter?"

"Of course!" Harry was getting quite angry with the man now, but something stopped him from lashing out.

"Did Severus never tell you the truth about your father?"

The look on Harry's face told Voldemort his answer was no.

"Severus Snape is your father, Harry," Voldemort said.

Harry stood there rooted to the ground. Why would Voldemort say this? Was he telling the truth?

"Enough with the pleasantries. Give me the stone, Harry." Voldemort's voice barely pierced Harry's thoughts.

When Harry made no move, Voldemort ordered Quirrell to take it by force. Harry was knocked to the ground by the professor and Harry did nothing until he felt a hand near his pocket where the stone was. A hand grabbed Quirrell's and pulled it away from the stone which had fallen out of the pocket and onto the floor. Quirrell was screaming for Harry to let go and then Harry realised that Quirrell's hand was blistering in his own, as if he were being burnt. This was his chance, Harry decided. He could kill Voldemort now! He placed his hands on the sides of Quirrell's head and watched as he blistered, falling to his knees and screaming in agony. Harry didn't let go until he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Dumbledore staring down at him.

"Harry, you've done enough," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked down at Quirrell who was now unconscious on the floor, his face a deep red and a horrible sight. Suddenly he was very tired; everything he had heard was too much, almost killing Quirrell, ignoring the pain in his scar for as long as he had. Harry looked at the floor, searching for the stone, but it seemed to have disappeared. Knowing that Dumbledore was there, Harry gave into exhaustion.

Harry woke up in the hospital wing to find Dumbledore at the end of his bed.

"Ah, hello, Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry sat up slowly and noticed a pile of chocolates at the end of his bed.

"You have admirers," Dumbledore noted, following Harry's line of sight. "Harry, are you okay?"

"Yes," Harry said. He felt great after a long sleep. "Professor, I have some questions."

"Ask away."

"What happened to the stone?"

Dumbledore seemed prepared for the question. "It has been destroyed." Harry's eyes widened. "Nicolas Flamel, its maker, decided it was for the best."

News of its destruction saddened Harry, but he wouldn't let it bother him. It's not like he needed gold and immortality.

"What happened to Quirrell?"

Dumbledore let out a sigh. "He might have survived, but Voldemort left Quirrell's body and he died not long after."

"So, Voldemort's still alive?" Harry asked.

"In a severely crippled form, yes."

"Can he come back?"

Dumbledore nodded. "There are ways… Anyway, when you are ready you may leave and join us for the feast." Harry began to get up immediately, realising how hungry he was, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "You have a few hours to wait yet, take your time."

Harry waited until the door closed behind Dumbledore before sliding out of the hospital bed. He threw on his robes and piled his gifts into his arms then set off to the dungeons. A quick trip to the dormitory to drop everything on his bed and wash his face so that he looked a bit more presentable (there would be no use trying to tame his hair) then he walked along the corridor until he reached Snape's office. So far he hadn't figured out what he was going to say. For all he knew Voldemort had lied and Harry was about to make a fool of himself and look slightly insane when Snape told him that he was just imagining that someone else was his father and that he should get over the fact that his parents are dead.

Harry knocked lightly on the wood and sure enough Snape opened the door, clothed in his usual black.

"Yes, Potter?"

"Can I come in?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Snape moved into his office and Harry followed, closing the door firmly behind him.

Snape sat behind his desk. Dumbledore had told the staff what had happened with Harry and as far as Snape could tell everyone was still in the dark about Harry's father. Which was fine. He wondered why Harry was suddenly paying him a visit; he hoped that it was just a case of the ordeal being a little traumatic.

"What would you like to talk about?" Snape asked, looking into Harry's green eyes.

"I…Professor…" Harry began. He really wasn't sure how to phrase this.

"Is this about the business with Quirrell and the stone?"

Harry nodded. "Well, kind of." He paused. "Voldemort told me something while I was down there." Snape tensed slightly. "He said that James Potter wasn't my dad."

Snape sighed. He guessed that the truth was out. Now was a better time than ever…

"No, he wasn't."

Harry's face fell slightly; he liked the idea of having a father that was a Gryffindor seeker. "Voldemort also said you're my father."

Snape closed his eyes and bowed his head for a moment. After all these years he was finally free to be the father he wanted to be. "That is correct."

The boy before him had mixed emotions. He hadn't had much time to think about how he felt about having Snape as a father. But suddenly he was bursting with questions to the point where he didn't know where to begin.

Snape got up and walked around his desk so that he could be with his son. He took Harry's hand and pulled him to his feet in order to embrace the boy. Ever since he'd arrived at Hogwarts, Snape had wanted to hug Harry, but only now did he get the chance. Harry wound his arms around his new found father and Snape felt a tear escape due to joy.

"I'm sorry," Snape said.

Harry pulled away and looked up at the teacher who was quite tearful (against his will).

"Tell me everything," Harry said, sitting back down. Snape waved his wand and his chair disappeared from behind his desk and reappeared on the other side, not far from Harry's. Snape fell into the chair and sat with his fingers interlocked. Where should be begin?

"Was Lily my mother?" Harry asked to start.

Snape confirmed all of Harry's quick questions and told him about the history between him, James and Lily. During the conversation Snape repeatedly apologized for not taking Harry in and not being honest with the world. Harry was quite understanding of his reasons, but he had one question which Snape hoped he wouldn't ask.

"Why couldn't you just tell everyone?"

Snape couldn't make eye contact with Harry. "Please don't hate me. I loved your mother so deeply." Harry sat forward slightly. With his head in his hands Snape said, "I used a love potion."

Harry hadn't read much about love potions, but just from the name anyone could tell what they were. "So you took advantage of my mother while she was fawning over you?"

Snape looked up, straight into Harry's eyes. "I would never do that," he said seriously. "All I wanted was one kiss from the love of my life. Nothing more."

"But?" Harry pressed.

Snape blushed uncharacteristically. This was not the kind of conversation you had with your 11 year old son. "Harry, I…this is a conversation for another time." My, what a fatherly tone that came out in.

They talked for a little while more before Harry's stomach rumbled loudly and Snape suggested that they go up to the feast. They walked up the stairs together and before they reached the entrance hall Harry asked, "Do I call you dad now?"

Snape smirked. "Only when others aren't around. I'm sure this isn't something you want your classmates knowing."

"What if I don't mind?"

"I say you leave it out when we're in class," Snape said. "And be careful who you tell. Some people won't believe you straight away and I haven't even told Dumbledore."

Harry laughed. "Something Dumbledore doesn't know? That means this must all be a lie."

From the feast onwards time seemed to speed up. Harry spent as much time as he could with Snape, which also meant that he wasn't where people could question him about Voldemort and Quirrell. Soon enough lessons were over, Slytherin was holding the house cup and it was time to once again board the Hogwarts Express.

"Harry," Snape called as everyone filed out of the Great Hall after the final feast of the year.

They took one last trip to Snape's office where it was Snape's turn to ask a question. "Harry, I know how much you hate living with your aunt and uncle," Snape began, "would you like to come and live with me this summer?"

Harry's face lit up and he threw himself at his father. "Would I? Of course I want to!"

Snape smiled. He had feared rejection, but now he realised that Harry wasn't ever going to refuse his offer. "Get on the train tomorrow and I'll meet you on the platform at King's Cross."

"Do teachers get the train too?" Harry asked.

"Some do, it depends really. Some never leave the castle. Anyway, off to bed."

"Good night, dad."

Snape merely waved Harry off for he was choked up at his words.

The train ride back was uneventful. Harry sat with Draco and a couple of other Slytherins. They played a few games of exploding snap and used their wands for the last time before they would be forced to go back to the Muggle way of life with no magic.

Harry said goodbye to everyone on the platform as they left and waited for Snape to join him. The two of them took a train from London and Snape's house was a short way from the station, down a cobbled street. Harry had imagined that Snape would have some kind of mansion in the middle of nowhere and so was quite surprised when Snape stopped in front of a red brick semi-detached house where he clearly lived alongside Muggles. He remembered Draco telling Harry about his mansion with huge gardens, but clearly Snape had no need for such a place if he lived at Hogwarts for most of the year.

As they stepped in the lights turned on automatically. It was a dark hall with stairs to one side. Cobwebs were in the corners.

"Sorry about the place," Snape said. "I wasn't expecting to return home with someone."

Harry followed Snape through to the living room. The walls were lined with books in here and the only homely touch was a vase which held the remains of flowers that had long been dead.

"Well, this is home," Snape said. "It's not much, a bit on the dark side, but still home."

"Did your parents live here?" Harry asked, realising that they were his grandparents.

"Yes, I was brought up here. The house was left to me."

Harry wondered about the young Snape and what his life had been like.

"There's a bedroom upstairs for you, I'm sure you'll prefer it to that cupboard under the stairs."

"Do the Dursleys know?" Harry asked, realising that they were probably all as relieved as Harry that he wasn't returning.

"Dumbledore took care of all that. He's a very thoughtful man."

The next few hours were spent exploring the house and setting up his bedroom how he liked it. Harry opened the curtains to get some light in, but there just seemed to be something dark about the house. It seemed to reflect the dark days that Severus had been living in, hiding from the world.

"I think we should redecorate," Harry said.

Snape could not agree more and thus they spent the first two weeks of the summer brightening up the house and making it a more pleasant place to live. The job was finished with Severus replacing the dead flowers with fresh ones, which Harry saw were lilies.

"Have you always had them there?" Harry asked.

"Always."

The rest of the summer was passed with a multitude of things and it was by far the best summer Harry had ever had. On rainy days he picked a book from the hundreds in the living room, but on sunny days they would take trips to places like Diagon Alley and have ice cream. Snape helped Harry to complete his summer work and Harry gave Snape a few cooking tips he'd picked up at the Dursleys (clearly Snape had been at Hogwarts for too long). As the end of summer drew nearer, Harry received his book list and Snape gladly accompanied Harry to pick them up along with more potion supplies and his very own broomstick (a Nimbus 2001) which was some form of sorry-for-all-the-time-we-were-apart gift.


	2. 2nd Year

**His Last Horcrux (2)**

The second year began and Harry and Draco were up to their old tricks. Harry had forgiven Draco for leaving him in the forest and they gelled together again. They even made the Quidditch team as beaters which was fun for them as well as Fred and George when they played Gryffindor. Speaking of the Weasleys, Draco had stopped being so horrible to them. Harry thought it was because of last year's events and the fact that Harry actually liked Ron and both of them respected the twins' previous feats in the area of practical jokes. Either way, Draco seemed to listen to Harry more now than he had last year.

The first half of term passed with nothing notable happening apart from when Harry and Draco added dungbombs to Crabbe's and Goyle's potions which did not end well. Potions lessons were cancelled for 3 days following the incident. Snape was not particularly impressed, but he let his son off the hook this once. Harry still went back to Fred and George to buy more dungbombs, but he'd save them for another lesson, like Defence Against the Dark Arts. If they thought that Quirrell was a joke last year they were wrong, Gilderoy Lockhart was worse. It would have been fine if Harry was plain old Harry, but he was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and thus Lockhart had to be overly friendly and talk about being a celebrity all lesson long.

Something out of the ordinary finally came along on Halloween after the feast. A petrified cat and a message written in blood on a wall. _The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware._ What was the Chamber of Secrets? Who was the heir? Was he an enemy? When they returned to the Slytherin common room it was buzzing with conversation about chambers and heirs. Harry sat down next to Draco by the fireplace.

"Do you know anything about all this?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "I'm going to write to my father, he'll know something if it's worth looking into."

They didn't need to wait for Lucius Malfoy's reply, because a lot of their questions were answered the next day in History of Magic. For once the whole class paid attention to Professor Binns and hung on his every word. After the lesson everyone suspected that a Slytherin was behind the attacks, it was only natural that they should think that. Harry was more interested than most by the story and decided to take a trip to the library. Maybe the summer spent at Snape's had rubbed off on him. His search eventually led him to a section where he found Hermione Granger.

"Hi," he said.

"Oh, hello," she replied. He could see that she was quite engrossed in the passage she was reading and he searched the shelf for a title only to realise that it was the book open in front of Hermione.

"Is that the Extended Hogwarts, A History?" Harry asked.

"Yes, do you want to read it?"

"I would." She went to close the book. "No, I think that page will be just fine," he said as he took the open book from her.

"Are you researching the Chamber of Secrets too?" she asked.

Harry smiled, nothing got past this girl. "Yeah, I figured I could do some light reading around it." He opened the book and began to read, but nothing more than what Binns had told them was in there, only a little more history on Salazar Slytherin.

When a letter from Draco's father arrived Harry became excited once more. They read it together, but the only new piece of information they found was that a girl had died and after that the attacks stopped.

Soon after a duelling club was started up which Harry immediately regretted attending when he saw that it was Lockhart who was hosting it. It was however, a good chance to learn some new spells. By the end of the session though, the whole school was pretty much convinced that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin all because he had spoken to a snake (a prank spell of Malfoy's). After Draco had explained that Slytherin was a parselmouth, Harry began to wonder if he was the heir of Slytherin and had some hidden power that was only displayed in his sleep.

"You would tell me if it was you, wouldn't you?" Draco asked when news of another student being petrified got around.

"Sure," said Harry. "I still don't know if I am…" Harry told Draco of his suspicions.

"That's…no. I don't think that's very likely," Draco said. "I was with you the whole time before Mrs. Norris was found."

A few days later Harry found a petrified Nearly Headless Nick and Justin Finch-Fletchely and at that moment someone decided to find Harry. It looked like Harry had just done the deed – but how could he? Was there was spell for petrifying people? He had been sent to Dumbledore who told Harry that he believed someone else was behind the attacks, but that didn't stop the rest of the school from avoiding Harry like the plague. Harry had begun to further doubt himself when he began to hear voices in the walls. They said things like 'let me rip you.' Try as he might, he always lost the voice because he bumped into someone or a brick wall. Today was different. He followed the voice all the way to a bathroom which was flooded with water. The voice seemed to be getting further away as he stood in the puddle of water…it was going down…

"Come to throw something else at me?" a female voice said.

Harry whipped around, unaware that he was not alone. A ghost sat on the window ledge looking at Harry through glasses not unlike his own.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. He never thought he'd meet a ghost that was so young.

She pointed to a black book on the floor and began to tell him of how someone had tried to flush it down the toilet…whilst she was sitting in the u-bend. As she spoke he examined the wet book. It was plain black leather with the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in gold on the back. The pages were yellow with age and completely blank. Harry wondered why anyone would want to get rid of what seemed like an ordinary diary and pocketed it before leaving Moaning Myrtle to moan at another poor soul who happened to walk in.

It was a Friday evening and so Harry did not feel bad that he stayed up late enough for the common room to completely empty. His thoughts had been with the diary all evening. As more people went up to bed he had taken it out and looked at it more closely, but he couldn't find anything unusual about it apart from the fact that it was blank. Once the last person left he moved to sit at a table and took out a quill. A drop of ink splashed on the page and disappeared seconds later. Harry began to write. _Hello._ His words vanished and two words appeared in the centre of the page in what Harry thought was a very fancy handwriting. _Good evening._ He couldn't believe that the diary had written back.

_I'm Harry Potter. Who are you?_

_My name is Tom Riddle, but I'm sure you knew that._

Harry suddenly realised that he had heard the name before… Last year in detention he had cleaned many trophies and shields and this person had won something. Draco hadn't had much to say on this guy, in fact, Draco had never heard of him.

_You won an award for the school, right?_

_Yes, some 50 years ago now._

Harry wondered how the diary worked. The diary had memories, quite old ones. Had anyone else ever written in here before?

_What did you win the award for?_

_I caught the person behind the attacks when the Chamber of Secrets was opened._

He wanted to yell with joy. After all the searching for information and now he felt as if all the answers were in the palm of his hand. He pressed Riddle for more information and was sucked into a memory where he found that it was Hagrid setting a rather large spider around the castle. Of course, Hagrid was the type to keep monstrous pets… But he didn't want to think that Hagrid had done it intentionally. True, Harry had not spent much time with him, but from what Harry had seen, Hagrid wouldn't hurt a fly and to think he had been a student at the time…

Harry took a trip down to Hagrid's the next day where he was unsurprised to find Ron, Hermione and Neville. Conversation naturally fell to the Chamber at one point – it seemed that he was not the only one investigating it.

"Hagrid, do you know anything?" Harry asked. "You know a lot about magical creatures right?"

Hagrid told them what had happened while he was there. The same story, but from a student's perspective.

"Was it a spider?" Ron squeaked when Harry asked this. "Like a really big one?"

"I don' know where you're gettin' all this from, 'Arry, but me an' Aragog had nothin' to do with it," Hagrid said. "I kept 'im in a box all 'is life. Never let 'im out, ever."

Hermione piped up. "Personally I think it's more likely that the monster is a snake of some description. After all, Slytherin's symbol is a serpent."

Harry stared at her. She was right. He suddenly had a desire to hear the voice again. No one else had heard it…maybe it was speaking in parseltongue. He didn't tell them his suspicions; this was something he wanted to do alone. Wait – he wanted to _do?_ Do what? Catch the person like Tom Riddle claimed to? Or maybe he just wanted to discover the elusive Chamber of Secrets.

After some watery tea he returned to the common room where he began to write in the diary once more. He told Tom exactly what he thought about Hagrid being innocent.

_I see that you are not one to be so easily fooled, _Tom wrote, _unlike Dumbledore._

_Will you tell me the truth? _Harry asked.

_I am the Heir of Slytherin._

Harry was rather shocked. Riddle had been behind the attacks then? Last time and this time too? How? And he had managed to convince everyone that he was not the heir? He began to scribble questions down and soon could piece together the whole picture. It surprised him that an actual descendant of Slytherin had not been better remembered.

_Where is the entrance to the Chamber?_ Harry hoped that after so many questions Riddle would answer it like the rest.

_In a bathroom._

_Which one?_

_A student's bathroom._

Harry could see that Tom was going to be difficult with this last piece of information. Harry had pretty much guessed the other things about the monster inside and how it petrified people. It seemed he had one last thing that he had to figure out on his own.

Only when he could no longer fight off sleep did Harry stop writing messages to Riddle. There was something about the diary that felt right and when Riddle voiced an interest in meeting Harry, Harry said he couldn't wait. But he had to wait. Riddle said that when the time to meet finally arrived Harry should come to the Chamber, but only after another message had been left.

First floor, second floor, third floor… Harry had searched every male bathroom in the school. There was nothing out of the ordinary in any of them. The only possibilities now were those in the other house common rooms (highly unlikely, Harry decided) or a girl's bathroom (unusual, but probable). Harry sat in the library with Draco working on an essay for Lockhart, but he wasn't putting any heart into it. His mind was still in the bathrooms, wondering where the entrance could be. Would he need to flush himself down a toilet to get there? Harry put his head on his arms and lay with his eyes closed for a few minutes. He knew he could figure this out… He heard someone approach and Draco tell them that he was no longer using the book in front of him. They clearly didn't have a very good grip because they dropped the book before scurrying away. Harry sat up and stuffed his half finished essay in his bag before walking out of the library, leaving Draco alone.

When he returned to the common room he noticed that Riddle's diary was no longer in his bag. He was sure he'd taken it with him…he hadn't let it leave his side for the past few days. Regardless, he looked in his trunk and by his bed. As he thought, it wasn't there and so he pretty much stormed down to the library again. Draco was gone when Harry arrived and the table that they had sat at was completely empty. He turned around and raced back to the common room. Sure enough, Draco was there on one of the sofas.

"Where is it?" Harry said harshly as he ran at Draco and grabbed the front of his robes.

Draco jumped at the sudden outburst. "What? WHAT?"

"The diary!" Harry yelled.

"What diary?"

Harry calmed himself and released Draco, aware that there were a few others around. "I've been writing in a little black book."

"I noticed," Draco said.

"Where is it?" Harry demanded again.

"I don't know," Draco said quickly. "I've never touched it."

Harry stared into Draco's grey eyes.

"I promise," Draco added.

Harry believed him and sat down next to him, head in his hands. Where could it have gone? Someone _must_ have stolen it. There was no other explanation.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Draco asked. "I know you're up to something."

No reply. Harry couldn't tell Draco everything… He'd finally come so close to the end without much help, he had to complete the journey alone. How did he know that though? It was just a deep feeling he had.

"Is it to do with the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry smiled into his hands. Draco wasn't completely oblivious.

"What if it is?" Harry asked.

"Take me with you."

Harry scoffed. "Why should I do that?" What was Draco after? Glory? Or a chance to prove himself?

"I want to help." It wasn't his best excuse. He just wanted to be apart of the adventure. He hated the fact that Harry had slipped away to find the Philosopher's stone without him.

"I don't want your help," Harry said. "You'd only be a burden."

Draco was speechless. Harry had never been so cold towards him. He watched as Harry got up and left. Maybe it was time to take matters into his own hands and beat Harry at his own game. Where to start? With Weasley or Granger. They seemed to be up to something just like Harry.

Draco never got to speak to Hermione. At dinner that evening it became common knowledge that she had been petrified during the day. It didn't matter; Draco much preferred the idea of a conversation with Weasley than the mudblood.

"Psst! Weasley!" Draco whispered across to the Gryffindor table.

Ron turned around. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Do you know what Potter's up to?"

"What? You mean you don't know?"

"Yes, now, what's he up to?"

Ron looked over to Harry. "He's eating dinner."

"Don't try and be funny with me, Weasel," Draco spat.

"I'm not with Harry everyday like you are, how am I supposed to know if he's up to anything?"

Draco huffed and turned back to the Slytherin table. There had to be another way…

"Draco tells me you're planning something," Snape said.

Harry sat in a plush chair talking to his father.

"He needs to give it a rest," Harry said. "Everyone's interested in the Chamber of Secrets. Just because I've been doing some further reading doesn't mean I'm planning anything." How dare Draco start getting others involved, especially his father (not that Harry had told anyone about that)?

"He mentioned a diary."

"Did he mention that I lost it?"

Snape nodded. "It's still a curious object though. A diary you suddenly found and began to write in. Quite frequently and for long periods of time, Draco tells me."

Harry was quite frustrated. How often had he been watching Harry in the common room?

"It's my business and no one else's," Harry said with a tone of finality in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Snape said as Harry moved towards the door. "This is what it's like to have a concerned father worry about you."

Harry cracked a small smile before leaving; this was him being an awkward teenage son.

He had Transfiguration next and as he walked along the corridor to the classroom an announcement rang out ordering all students to return to their houses and all teachers to the second floor corridor. Harry had no intention of going back to his house without finding out what was so important. This would be a really good time to use the invisibility cloak, Harry thought, but it was locked in his trunk under his bed. He could hear the teachers, audible from this distance, so he hid behind a suit of armour.

"Who's been taken?" someone asked.

"Ginny Weasley," he heard McGonagall say. He also heard a squeak not far from where he was standing. He peered round the suit of armour and noticed that there were two students squashed behind the suit opposite. The teachers began to shuffle away, most likely to the staffroom. Harry stepped out and so did Ron and Neville.

"My sister!" Ron cried. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Neville said honestly.

Harry walked around the corner where he saw a message, once again written in blood. _Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever._ This was it – the message Riddle had told him about.

"Harry, do you have a plan?" Ron asked.

"I'm going into the chamber," he said. Suddenly he realised he'd voiced his intentions aloud and looked at the two Gryffindors. "Alone that is. I can't take you with me."

Ron nodded, against his will, Harry supposed. "Can you do me a favour?" Ron asked. "Can you save my sister while you're there?"

Harry looked at Ron. He really believed in Harry. Not only that, he always had. Throughout the year people had criticised Harry, avoided him, accused him of things he hadn't done, but not Ron. Ron had always been friendly and never said a bad word against him. Now, if he could, this would be a way to repay him.

"I can't promise anything," Harry said and Ron gave an understanding nod. "But I will try."

Harry began to walk, his feet leading him…where? He hadn't figured out where the entrance to the chamber was, but he still continued on. A bathroom, he'd heard the basilisk there before, a girl had died there…Moaning Myrtle. He arrived and she told him that she had seen yellow eyes by a sink. On inspection he found a snake carved into the tap and knew that this was the entrance. He knew what to do, but he didn't know how he knew.

"_Open," _he said in parseltongue. The sink began to move, revealing the entrance. Harry slid down and made his way through a cavern littered with shed skin.

He reached a round door; it looked like a bank vault, which seemed to have live snakes on it. Once again he commanded the door to open and it swung forward. He moved closer and saw that the Chamber of Secrets was through the door, a large dark room full of small snake statues and at the end he could make out a large statue of a wizard. As Harry walked, admiring the beauty of the chamber, he almost forgot why he was there. Then he looked down to see Ginny Weasley lying on the floor. She had the diary clutched in her hand. When had she managed to steal it from him? He bent down and touched the hand holding the diary; she was cold, but still alive. Returning to his feet, Harry looked around for a sign of Tom Riddle. That was the reason he was here: to meet Riddle. From the shadows a boy of around 16 appeared.

"Hello, Harry," Tom said as light in the chamber revealed his handsome features.

Harry didn't know what to say; he hadn't really thought about it. "It's nice to finally meet you," was what he came out with.

"I trust it wasn't too much trouble for you to find out where the chamber was?"

"Of course not," Harry half lied. He had clearly over thought the matter, because when he needed to find it he knew exactly where it was. "What have you done to Ginny?" he asked out of curiosity.

"I'm killing her, Harry," Tom said plainly, watching for Harry's reaction.

"Why?"

"I am just a memory and cannot be whole until I have drained the last drop of life from her."

Harry looked down at the girl. He didn't know her well, but he was sad that it had to be Ron's sister that was sacrificed for this matter.

"Do you think I'm wrong?" Tom asked.

"Wrong to kill her?" Tom nodded at the question. "Part of me does. But sometimes we need to do things to live." Harry was slightly surprised at his own words, but they were true. He would do the same given the choice.

Tom smiled. "I'm glad that you think I should be given the chance to live again."

It was a statement that Harry found a little odd, but he felt something…a certain kind of trust in Riddle that he didn't often feel.

"Do you know who I am?" Riddle asked, making Harry think.

"You're Tom Riddle, the heir of Slytherin," Harry said. Was that all he knew? He felt as if he knew so much more.

"I was," Tom agreed. "May I borrow your wand?"

Harry handed it over without a second thought. Riddle wrote his full name in the air using it and then waved the wand and the letters rearranged themselves. _I am Lord Voldemort._ Suddenly Harry's head was spinning with thoughts. This is why there wasn't much about 'Tom Riddle' anywhere, why Tom was interested in Harry, why hadn't he –

"Are you really Voldemort?" Harry asked. School children often made up silly things, what if…

"Voldemort is my past, present and future," Riddle said.

Harry didn't have long to digest this because at that moment Riddle took a sharp intake of breath and fell to the ground, a hand clutching his chest as he felt his own heart beat for the first time in eleven years. Simultaneously, Harry felt his scar burn white hot and he fell to the ground, hands holding his head that felt as if it was going to split apart. Through the pain he felt a finger trace his scar which made him scream out in agony, but when it left his skin his vision returned and the pain subsided. Harry lay on the floor breathing heavily, looking up at Riddle, who had just stopped the pain. How had he done that? More importantly, why?

"I…I don't understand," Harry said.

"What?" Riddle took a seat on the floor opposite Harry.

Harry suddenly remembered Ginny lying a few feet away.

"She's dead," Tom said. "I'm living once more." He placed a hand over his heart and felt it beat a few more times.

"You're Voldemort," Harry said again as if repeating the fact made it more real. "Why am I still breathing?"

Riddle laughed. "Harry, my dear, Harry." Harry noted this weird way of addressing him. "I am aware that many people have said that, should I ever return the first thing I would do is kill you and have my 'revenge' as they call it." Harry nodded – that's what he believed too. "They're wrong. It's the complete opposite. I want to keep you alive for as long as possible. However, I was under the impression that you wanted to kill me last year."

Yes, he wanted Voldemort dead. But it was difficult to remember that as he looked at the young man before him. "I did," Harry said.

"What happened to change your mind?" Such a probing question.

"I guess…I gained a father because of our meeting last year...and to be honest you…" Harry trailed off. What was he about to say?

"Severus gave me permission to kill James, not that he was your father," Tom said. "I regret that Lily had to go too, but she stood between me and you."

"Why did you need me?"

"You may not know it, but you're very special to me and have been since Severus told me about the conditions under which you were conceived."

Harry knew what he was talking about – the love potion? But why would Voldemort be interested in a child like that? Surely there was a significant amount of children in the same position as Harry. Riddle leaned forward and gripped Harry's jaw, holding his face still as he stared into Harry's green eyes. Up close Harry could see flecks of red in Riddle's eyes which were otherwise dark.

"Do you know what they say about children like us?" Riddle asked.

Harry was unsure about the use of the word 'us,' but answered anyway. "No."

"They say that we cannot feel love."

"Why not?"

Riddle smirked. "Our parents never truly loved each other, thus we cannot love."

"What happened with your parents?"

Tom told Harry the short history he knew and of how he ended up in an orphanage. Harry felt his hate for Voldemort dissipating; there were so alike it was unreal.

"But why me?" Harry asked.

"Children are most easy to catch and do what you want with, especially when they can barely walk." Harry felt slightly insulted. "And to have one of my loyal Death Eaters tell me he had such an illegitimate child – I couldn't pass up the chance!" Riddle paused, not breaking eye contact with Harry to build the tension. "You're my last horcrux, Harry."

If Harry had known what a horcrux was, he probably would have gasped, but he didn't, so he stared blankly at Riddle.

"It's the reason I don't want to kill you, the reason I have never needed to have any form of revenge – it was my fault that I died that night."

Harry still wasn't following.

"To make one immortal, one hides his soul in objects, but it is possible to do so in living things too, so I tried it for my final one, having finally found a suitable person."

It took a moment for Harry to process what Tom had just told him.

"The last one?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Number six," Riddle said. "The diary is one of them."

So, they were quite magical objects…

"How does one hide his soul?" Could this be something for Harry to try in the future?

"You split it by committing a heinous crime: murder."

James and Lily had died for this purpose…

Riddle sighed. "I am too greedy for my own good. I should have left you there. My soul was unstable; it couldn't handle one last split."

Harry was still thinking about the implications of being a horcrux. He had been one for as long as he could remember, but did that make him different from others? He didn't think so…

"Harry, listen to me," Tom said. Harry pulled himself away from his thoughts. "I'm going to stop the attacks. I know that they plan to close the school otherwise." Harry nodded. "I need it to stay open a little longer and I want you to return next year." A confused look appeared on Harry's face. "I'm going to come for you."

"What? Why?"

"So that we can rule this world together," Riddle said simply.

Harry couldn't deny that if Voldemort was about to take over he wanted to be on his side. That was the way of a Slytherin. And he had taken a liking to Tom; he seemed a lot better than Draco. Wait. This was Voldemort he was talking about, wasn't it? Harry was confused now – why was he thinking like this?

"Take the girl's body back up to the school; tell them that you were too late to save her." Riddle picked up the diary and pocketed it.

"And when they ask who was behind it all?"

"Tell the truth, or part of it." Riddle thought for a moment. "Tell them Ginny was being possessed by a magical object, a diary, which was torn to shreds by the basilisk and had killed Ginny when she looked into its eyes after she had returned to normal. You came just in time to see the tail of the beast returning to its lair. Which, by the way, is in the opening just there." He pointed to a hole between the legs of the great statue.

Harry took a few moments to get the story straight in his head. "What will you do?"

"Plan, gather the old followers, maybe break a few out of Azkaban, enjoy being alive once more," Riddle said. "Don't tell anyone I'm alive. But when your father confronts you in a few weeks, be honest with him, but not until the summer." Harry nodded and took his wand back from Tom. "I wish you all the best, I'm sure I'll see you soon." Tom placed a kiss on Harry's forehead before walking back into the shadows of the chamber. He was not entirely sure about that last gesture, but the past half hour was still not real to him either. Ginny was not light, but Harry managed to hoist her up into his arms and carry her out.

The first stop was Dumbledore's office where Ginny's body was rushed away and Harry was questioned about his time in the Chamber. He did exactly what Tom had asked of him and lied about the events that took place. Dumbledore believed Harry just as he had once believed Riddle and soon Harry was on his way back to his dormitory.

As he took to the grand staircase he heard a voice call his name. Ron was walking down the stairs with Fred, George and Percy, led by McGonagall.

"Harry! Did you save her!" he called down a few floors.

Harry couldn't look at Ron and his brothers. He had failed them in favour of letting Voldemort rise to power once more. But then again, what could he have done to stop him? How did you stop a memory from sucking the life from someone? When Harry looked up next, he saw McGonagall pulling Ron from the banister and telling him to just follow her. Yet it was quite obvious from Harry's reaction that he had failed Ron's only request. Harry continued on to the dungeons where he walked past everyone who peered at him, wondering where he had just been and why he hadn't returned when McGonagall had told them to. Whispering began as he took to the stairs, but he was in no mood to answer questions. He collapsed on his bed, thinking about Riddle's words, but despite how early it still was, he was asleep before long.

The next day when Harry went down to breakfast, everyone was staring at him and he heard his name said multiple times as he walked down to take a seat next to the other Slytherin second years. Clearly, nothing ever stayed secret for long in Hogwarts and everyone knew that he'd been into the Chamber of Secrets last night. They also knew that Ginny had died down there. Harry had told Dumbledore that the attacks would stop, but some people didn't believe him it appeared.

"How does everyone know?" Harry asked.

"Snape came and told us last night," Draco said. "I guess that went for the other houses too. Apparently you told Weasley and Longbottom you were going anyway."

"Yeah, a slip of the tongue." Harry looked around, but he couldn't see any of the Weasley children.

"So, what really happened?" Draco asked.

Harry told Draco and the other Slytherins who were listening the same story that he had told Dumbledore.

"That was it? The monster didn't come back out to get you?"

Harry shook his head.

Later in the day he was questioned again, this time by Snape. By the end of the day Harry was quite bored of the story and his own voice. However, he couldn't help feeling that there was something Snape was keeping from him; he appeared to very on edge.

The last week passed slowly for Harry and he couldn't wait for the summer to start. At least in the summer he wouldn't be around students that were always bothering and staring at him.

Living with Snape was not easy for the first week. He was hardly ever at home, always telling Harry he would be back by midnight and more often than not, walking in when the clock chimed. There was also a difference in the way he looked at Harry, as if he were searching for something about the boy that was different.

One evening Snape returned at an early time of 9pm and asked Harry to come and sit with him in the kitchen. Harry took a seat at the wooden table while Snape looked in the cupboards for something to nibble on – he obviously wasn't eating much wherever he was going all day.

"Harry, do you know where I've been going all week?" Snape asked.

Harry shook his head. Sure, he had an idea, but as each day passed it seemed less likely to him.

"The Dark Lord has returned," Snape said. "He tells me that you are aware of this."

Harry nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Snape clearly meant the other Hogwarts teachers as well.

"He told me not to." Snape's expression told Harry that Voldemort had not said much on this matter. "Whose side are you really on?"

Snape looked down. An internal battle was raging. "When he killed Lily, I went over to Dumbledore, but now… I don't know."

"I've chosen," Harry said with conviction. "When he comes for me, I will go with him." Snape looked quite astonished. "Do you know what I am?" Harry asked.

"Something very important," Snape said. "We have orders to protect you at all costs."

Harry smiled, that was nice. "I'm his last horcrux."

Snape stood up quickly. Something about that word made him feel uneasy…he had read about horcruxes somewhere in one of his books. He walked over to the books nearest the fireplace, looking at the top shelf where the oldest books were –

"You won't find it," Harry said.

Yes, the place where the book had been was empty.

"Where is it?" Snape demanded.

Harry disappeared upstairs and returned with the large black book, Secrets of the Darkest Art. He handed it to his father who sat down and flicked through the pages quickly. His dark eyes scanned the passages he wanted and when he had finished he looked up at his son, eyes full of sorrow.

"I'm sorry," he said. "He never told me…"

Harry shrugged it off; he wasn't too bothered that he had been chosen for such a high honour.

"Don't you understand?" Snape was finding it hard to control his feelings. "If he dies, you'll be sacrificed to bring him back, just like the Weasley girl!"

Harry was unperturbed. "You don't seem to be aware of his five other horcruxes which will be used before me." Harry was sure that if Voldemort was ever killed again he would use one of the others; after all, he had not used Harry this time. They had a connection, Harry was not entirely sure of its nature, but he felt that they understood each other better than most others did.

Snape stared at his son. He seemed to calm about the situation, and so much more informed. But still, the fact that the Dark Lord had used his own son for such a purpose frustrated him, it was like a betrayal. Some of them would claim to be honoured to give up their children, but not Snape. Lily's son, his son, was supposed to be… What was he supposed to be? Normal? When his own father couldn't even own up to the fact that he was his father? Perhaps it was fate that Harry be used for such a purpose.

Snape walked up to the gates of the huge Malfoy mansion the next day.

"Back again, Severus?" Lucius asked as Snape walked in.

"Where is the Dark Lord?"

"Up in his room, as usual," Lucius replied.

Lucius had been very lucky. It was he who had planted the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron last summer and thus had indirectly brought Voldemort back. The Dark Lord was, obviously, very pleased, however, he was disappointed in Lucius's choice of person to hand it to. He had warned Lucius that the diary was extremely valuable to him and the fact that he gave it to an eleven year old girl did not amuse him in the slightest. Either way, Lucius had done well, so he could not complain.

Snape climbed the stairs and knocked on the room that Voldemort was currently occupying.

"Come in."

Snape entered to see the Dark Lord staring out of the window.

"Lucius has beautiful gardens, wouldn't you agree?" Voldemort asked.

"Yes," Snape said politely. "My lord, I have spoken with Harry –"

"And you didn't like what you heard."

"Precisely."

Voldemort turned around to look at Severus. Snape had some difficulty with fearing the Dark Lord's new young form, but he was slowly getting over it.

"Do you remember when you told me about the prophecy all those years ago?" Severus nodded. "Well, what if there was more which would have told me which child it actually referred to? I had to plan for both eventualities. Currently it refers to Potter only because he has been marked by me in some way, but I intend to do the same to Longbottom."

"Another horcrux?" Snape exclaimed.

"Of course not, that could lead to death once more. I will mark him as the child of the prophecy. However, in the event that it was Harry, I made him a horcrux. Had you not told me about him being your child, I probably would have killed him. Things have not gone to plan exactly, but I have him on my side now."

"But why my child, my Lord?"

"Because he is just like me. Actually, more than I imagined he would be too."

Snape didn't really understand, but he wouldn't be able to.

"Now, I have business with Lucius." That was his order to leave and Snape left the room quickly.

It was clear that even if Voldemort now looked like a boy, he still had the same harsh outlook on life that he had had all those years ago.

July 31st, Harry's 13th birthday. Snape had decided to put all thoughts of the Dark Lord and horcruxes from his mind and just enjoy the day with his son.

"Happy birthday!" Snape said as Harry entered the living room.

Harry rubbed his eyes. "Thanks." Then he saw a small pile of presents by the chair he usually sat in. Not only did he receive presents from his father, but some of the Slytherins had sent him small gifts too. The present that surprised him the most was some home made fudge from the Weasleys. It made him feel even worse that he hadn't saved Ginny; they clearly thought that he had been very heroic and tried his hardest to save her. One day he would have to tell them the truth, but maybe in a few years time. Snape asked if Harry wanted to do anything in particular on his birthday and Harry said that he'd like to go and have ice cream at Florean Fortecue's.

They had only been home for 10 minutes when there was a knock at the door. No one had ever knocked on the door whilst Harry had stayed there, so he was quite interested in whom the visitor was. He put down his broomstick servicing kit and walked down a few stairs before his scar began to hurt and he was forced to sit down where he was.

"Harry!" Snape's voice called his name.

Someone put a hand on his head and the pain stopped. He looked up –

"Tom!" Harry yelled in surprise and joy.

"Sorry about that," Tom said. "I'll have to make the spell more permanent." He held out a hand and pulled Harry to his feet.

Snape had thought that Harry did not know how he felt about the Dark Lord, but now that he saw them together, he knew that Harry knew what he was talking about. Yet, he probably had not seen the side of Voldemort that Snape had.

"I brought you a cake," Tom said, producing it from what seemed like thin air. It was a three tier cake made with chocolate.

"Thanks," Harry said, taking one of the decorations and popping it into his mouth.

"Shall we?" Snape motioned towards the living room door. They all took a seat and Harry cut them all some generous portions of cake. "So what brings you here, my Lord?"

"Well, it's Harry's birthday. It would be rude not to pop in and give him my best wishes. I hope your day has gone well so far and you don't think I'm an intrusion."

Harry shook his head and said with half a mouthful of cake, "It's nice to see someone different." Snape felt slightly insulted. Had Harry got bored of him already? "Will you be staying long?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear." Again with calling him 'dear.' Why? "I have others to see as well, old friends. But you know, Harry, if you ever need me, I'm not far. You have an owl don't you?"

Harry nodded, he had Hedwig. She hadn't had many jobs because everyone Harry had ever wanted to talk to had been in Hogwarts. They made small talk, but Snape didn't join in much; he didn't much seem to like having Voldemort in his house. Sooner then expected, Riddle stood up and straightened out the black suit he wore.

"I thought that you would be one to wear robes," Harry commented. He noticed that Snape always wore robes and only wore something remotely Muggle-like if they were going somewhere where they would encounter only Muggles.

"I was, but at this age I could pull suits off so well that I've gone back to them." A cheeky smile was on his lips. "The women much prefer it too."

Harry laughed, so the Dark Lord was a charmer. "Well, I can't say you're wrong. It suits you much more than some of the muggle business men I've seen bulging out of them." He walked with Riddle to the front door.

"Goodbye, Harry." He placed a quick kiss on Harry's cheek.

Harry blushed – why was he blushing? "Yeah, bye." Tom walked out and Harry closed the door behind him. He walked back into the living room where Snape was still sitting. "Good cake," Harry said to break the silence.

Snape nodded slowly.

"What's up, dad?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Snape said. He was in fact thinking about what he had seen: Voldemort laughing and smiling with his son. Something he had never done even among his most faithful Death Eaters. There was some kind of chemistry between them which Snape knew that only they shared. Something he shouldn't try to comprehend or dwell on.

On the other hand, it was something which Harry was about to spend the next week thinking about. Voldemort, someone who had told him that they were unable to feel love, was showing him signs of affection. Then there was the idea of love itself. If Harry couldn't feel it, then did he really love his father? Or was his feelings for Snape just a happiness that he had someone to care for him? Harry spent a lot of time when Snape was out sitting at his desk, trying to compose a letter to ask Riddle all of these questions. In the end, Harry sent a very short letter.

_Tom, I need to see you, Harry._

Harry spent the next day waiting for a reply. Honestly, he didn't even know where Voldemort was or how far Hedwig would have to fly to reach him. He could even be waiting until tomorrow. To pass the time, Harry began on his summer work. He had finished the DADA essay and had almost finished the potions one when Hedwig flew through the window Harry had left open for her. He quickly untied the small scroll on her leg and gave her a treat before reading his reply.

_I'm living at Malfoy Manor. Come over whenever you wish._

How frustrating. Did Tom really think Harry could just _come over?_ How was he supposed to get there? He didn't even know where the Malfoys lived, let alone have some form of transportation to get there. But Slytherins were cunning and Harry had a plan by the next morning.

"Dad, Draco's invited me to go over to his mansion," Harry said at breakfast. "How do I get there?"

"You can go use floo powder," Snape said. To both the Malfoys' and Snape's annoyance, Voldemort had insisted that their houses be linked by floo. He had insisted that it would be an escape route that could benefit everyone in both households, but Snape believed there were other reasons too. Out of courtesy, they tended just to apparate to each others houses, leaving floo for Voldemort to use. Snape guessed that this was a useful time to have the connection.

Harry had never travelled by floo powder before and Snape showed him what to do before he left for a staff meeting at Hogwarts. It was very rare for Dumbledore to call such a meeting, so it must have been quite important. Harry was swallowed up by the green flames and stepped out into a large dining room that fit the image Harry had had of Draco's mansion. The room was empty except for a small creature who bowed when he walked through the flames. When the creature looked up, it squeaked in surprise.

"Harry Potter! What a pleasure it is, sir."

"Umm, hi. I'm looking for Voldemort," Harry said.

There was a shudder from the elf. "So brave to speak his name! He is upstairs, sir, the first room on the left."

"Okay, thanks." Harry made to leave the room, but he was curious. "What are you?"

"Me, sir? I am a house elf that serves the Malfoy family. My name is Dobby, sir."

"Nice to meet you, Dobby," Harry said. As he left he could hear the elf muttering about kindness and being spoken to in such a manner.

He was about to begin climbing the stairs when he heard a door open and a man with white blond hair and expensive looking robes walked out. "And who do we have here waltzing into my home?"

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said.

"Ah, I finally get to see the boy that Draco has spoken of." Draco certainly was just like his father. "Please, continue on your way." Harry walked up the stairs and followed Dobby's instructions. He knew the Voldemort was just beyond the door because his scar began to prickle.

He knocked. "Tom, come and do the spell."

Tom responded quickly and Harry was relieved in seconds. "I've been wondering how to make that more permanent," he said as he walked in and sat on the bed. Harry sat in the plush chair that Voldemort usually occupied.

"Any ideas?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but I don't know if it'll work."

"What is it?"

"I got the idea from the protection that your mother left you with, where I couldn't touch you," Tom said.

"Wait…then why can you touch me now?" Harry asked.

"At some point you decided that killing me was not your goal anymore and since then I've not had any problems," Tom said. "I'll be honest, when I stopped your scar hurting down in the chamber I wasn't sure if I was going to blister up like Quirrell did. It was lucky really because you looked like you wouldn't be able to handle much more."

"It was the worst I've ever felt," Harry said, remembering the pain. "So, what's the new idea?"

"Obviously I would have to die to stop it, but that's not an option," Tom began. "But if you totally accepted me… What I mean to say is that the part of my soul in you is trying to get back to me and that's what makes it hurt. I need to suppress it and you need to stop trying to throw it out."

"I'm not doing anything!" Harry said.

"I never said you were, intentionally that is. It's just something natural in living horcruxes I guess." Tom gestured for Harry to come closer to him. "I need more contact. Maybe you should sit on the bed, I'm not promising this will be easy. At least you'll have a soft landing." Harry sat opposite Tom who pulled him closer. "Don't resist. And I'm sorry if it hurts."

Tom placed a thumb over Harry's scar and then brought Harry closer until he could easily kiss him on the lips. Harry did not know how this would help, but he played along as Riddle had asked him to. There was a sharp pain which began to dull the longer they remained in contact, Tom's tongue now exploring Harry's mouth. When the pain was no longer there Harry made to move, but Tom kept the contact for a few seconds more. They broke contact and both gasped for air.

"What do you feel?" Tom asked.

"Nothing," Harry said.

Tom smiled. "Good. It means it worked." Harry was relieved. "Now, why did you need to see me?"

Harry suddenly remembered his questions and realised that the fact that Riddle's idea had revolved around a kiss did not help his confusion in any way. He guessed that this would be the best place to start.

"Tom, why do you call me dear and kiss me?" Harry asked. "You said you'd never felt love, right?"

"I feel something for you, Harry," Tom said. "I don't know why. I'm sure you know that I've been alive for many years and never have I felt this way about someone. I'm not going to pretend that it is love, but it's something. An affinity of some sort."

Unhelpful, but he did understand exactly what Tom meant. Harry asked a few more questions where Tom's answers where not very concrete and then decided to leave to think about things, telling Riddle that he would probably be back soon.

"Harry!" someone called his name as he entered the dining room. He looked around to see Draco coming towards him. "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"Oh, yeah. I was just about to leave."

Draco's face fell. "Why did you come here?"

Harry did not know how much Draco knew about him and Voldemort, but clearly he was aware of his house guest. "I came to see Voldemort."

Draco's eyes widened. "What? I mean…are you one of _them?"_

"One of who?"

"His Death Eaters. They're always coming and going around here since he came," Draco said.

"No, I'm not one of them," Harry assured him. "Look, I've got to get back." Harry walked towards to fireplace.

"Do muggles have floo powder?" Draco asked.

Harry laughed. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, don't you live with muggles? You complained about them all the time in the first year."

That was right, Harry hadn't told Draco yet. "I don't live with them anymore. I live with Snape." Then Harry walked into the fire before Draco could question him further.

The last weeks of summer weren't exciting, as hard as Harry tried to make them so. He couldn't wait until he could finally get back to Hogwarts where he was allowed to do magic. He had tried to visit Tom a few times. He sent Hedwig with a message, but the reply was in someone else's hand writing, telling him that 'the Dark Lord is currently abroad.' Nice of him to let Harry know. Instead he visited Draco a few times and they played a few games of one-on-one Quidditch in Draco's own garden, the one which was his because it was furthest from the house and his mother didn't mind if he messed it up. When the booklist arrived, which was quite long due to the new subjects they'd be taking, Harry, Snape, Draco and his mother took a trip to Diagon Alley together.

"So it's true?" Draco asked as they stood in Madame Malkin's getting fitted for new robes having outgrown the old ones. "Snape's your father?"

Harry knew that Draco would have gone around asking about why Harry was now residing at Snape's and obviously, any Death Eater would have been able to tell him why. "He is," Harry confirmed. He knew that all Draco wanted was to hear it from Harry's own mouth.

Both boys had chosen Care of Magical Creatures and Divination to take up in their third year because they sounded the most interesting. They walked into Flourish and Blotts to see a cage full of moving books.

"I want one." Draco nudged Harry. He may have thought that he wanted one, but soon found that actually holding one was not as fun as it looked. Harry used his belt to keep his shut and Narcissa cast a spell over Draco's to still it.

They finished their day by having dinner together in the Leaky Cauldron where Harry got to try his first Butterbeer.

It was the day before he returned to Hogwarts and so he spent as much time as he could packing his trunk. He was surprised at how much stuff he'd left lying around the house and kept finding odd bits and bobs every time he entered a room, even if he thought he'd collected everything from it earlier. He walked back into the living room to check one last time when he realised they were not alone in the house.

"Tom!" Harry was about to run and hug him, but then realised that would be a bit weird. "Why didn't you tell us you were here? Or coming at least?"

"I'm sorry, I've just returned from my European excursion," Tom said. "I remembered that you return to school tomorrow, so I wanted to come and say goodbye until…I don't know when."

Snape appeared in the doorway. "My Lord."

"Severus. I trust you've been well."

"I have, thank you. I just wondered who Harry was talking to." Then he disappeared back upstairs.

"I noticed that you sent me a letter," Tom said.

"Ah, yes," Harry tried to remember what he had written. "Was that about the other questions I had?"

"Yes, but I've come here because I have a question for you." He paused. "How did you feel when I kissed you?"

Harry imagined that his cheeks were probably reddening as the memory came back to him. "I felt the pain go away."

"That's not what I meant," Riddle said as he stepped closer. "What did you feel here?" He placed a hand on Harry's chest, over his heart.

Harry wished Tom would remove his hand because he could felt his heart involuntarily beat faster. What was the answer to that question? "I…erm…"

Tom stopped him with another kiss, gentler than last time and a lot shorter. "How was that?"

"Umm…nice?" He didn't know if he liked it. There was something, some kind of gut feeling that told him that he wanted more, but he didn't want to act on it.

Tom placed a hand on his head, he was still too young. "I'll see you next year, Harry. Enjoy school." Then he walked into the emerald flames.

Harry wished he hadn't left so quickly, but he was a busy man who clearly didn't have time to entertain 13 year old boys.


	3. 3rd Year

**His Last Horcrux (3)**

People were not as wary of Harry anymore and they seemed to forget about last year's troubles and focus on this year's one, which was just more homework at the moment. Life at Hogwarts went back to normal and the third years got to test out their new lessons. Care of Magical Creatures was one of Harry's favourite lessons. Draco thought that Hagrid was a 'great oaf,' but Harry thought he was a brilliant teacher. Enthusiastic and fun, although he did go a bit overboard with the creatures he used sometimes. Divination, on the other hand, was a drag. Maybe it was just the way that Professor Trelawney taught it, or perhaps Harry simply did not possess the 'vision' that she was always talking about. Their first lesson was quite amusing as she predicted that Harry was in danger and would die. He thought this quite laughable knowing that he had every Death Eater being ordered to protect him. He wondered where they were now. Were they stationed on the outskirts of the school in case something happened? He knew he could rely on Snape and Dumbledore would probably throw himself in front of a bus to save any student.

There was one other change to lessons this year and that was in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Gilderoy Lockhart, although famous, had been a terrible teacher and so he had been replaced by a man who looked the part. Professor Lupin had scars across his face which got the students betting on how he had obtained them. Harry didn't care, he was just glad to have an interesting teacher for once, one that seemed to know what he was talking about.

At the end of the first week Harry was called to Dumbledore's office. He was not aware that he had done anything wrong, but it appeared that they had unfinished business from the end of last year. More questions like last time, but Harry always stuck to his story, insisting that he had never seen the diary before he saw it torn up. Dumbledore seemed to have developed a fascination with it over the summer, but Harry wasn't going to tell him anything.

"They've broke out of Azkaban!" a Gryffindor yelled when he received his copy of the Daily Prophet the following Wednesday.

Harry waited as Draco unrolled his copy and spread it out on the table for all the Slytherins to crowd around. On the front page were pictures of 11 people, all Death Eaters. The two at the top, Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange were said to have been the brains behind the escape. Clearly the Ministry was still unaware that Voldemort had returned to power. Harry wondered how long Voldemort would remain undetected now that his followers were out and about.

That evening Dumbledore announced that dementors were going to become temporary guards of the school until the Death Eaters were caught.

"What are they?" Harry asked. Draco briefly described what they looked like, but he didn't really know much about them.

As they left the Great Hall Harry felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Dumbledore right behind him. "I would appreciate it if you came to my office in an hour's time, Harry."

He didn't really want to, but he guessed that he couldn't refuse the headmaster.

When he arrived he found Dumbledore and Snape talking over a cup of tea, a third chair was empty, waiting for Harry to take it. He sat and took the tea that Dumbledore offered him.

"How are you this evening?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm good," Harry said. "Sir, can I ask why you haven't told the Ministry about Voldemort returning?"

"You must understand, Harry, that the Ministry likes to keep the world running smoothly," Dumbledore said. "If an old man like me were to suddenly tell them that Voldemort was back without any evidence, they'd say I'd gone loopy and most likely wouldn't believe a word I said."

Harry sipped his tea as he listened. "So, why have I been called here again?"

"Because we think that you're not telling us the whole story," Dumbledore said honestly. "And your father is quite interested in answers to certain questions I have. He's being a good father and expressing his concerns."

One last sip of what was possibly the best tea he had ever tasted before he asked, "And what makes you think I'm going to answer these questions truthfully?"

Snape produced a small bottle from his robes and placed it on the desk. "Veritaserum. A truth potion." Harry stared at the small bottle. "I didn't want to use it, Harry, but questions need answering. Even the Dark Lord won't answer my questions and I believed that I was closest to him."

Harry looked down at his almost empty cup of tea and regretted drinking it so quickly.

"Was Ginny Weasley dead when you entered the Chamber of Secrets?" Dumbledore asked, peering over his half-moon spectacles.

"No," Harry said to his annoyance. He couldn't control himself, he had wanted to say yes, but the potion stopped him from lying.

"Was the diary torn to shreds?"

"No." He had tried especially hard that time to say yes because he knew how much Dumbledore wanted to know about its true nature.

"What do you know about the diary?"

Harry was forced to reveal everything about it, as hard as he tried not to, he said the word 'horcrux' which earned a small reaction from the man in front of him. Snape had clearly told Dumbledore about the horcruxes, but this was the first time he had heard of the powers of the objects. The next few questions had Harry spilling the truth about what had happened in the Chamber, how he had never seen any part of the basilisk, how he'd let Ginny waste away and watched Tom Riddle gain life and how his original story was concocted by Riddle before they parted.

With each revelation Dumbledore grew more interested. Harry felt as if he could see the man's brain working away, making connections and figuring out things that even Harry had not arrived at yet.

Snape got his chance to ask a question next. "What is going on between you and Voldemort?" Harry answered that he was a horcrux, owing to the way the question had been phrased he didn't have to reveal much. "Do you have any feelings for him?"

"I think he's a nice person who I can relate to," Harry said automatically. At least with the truth potion he wasn't stuttering, trying to organise his thoughts and feelings into coherent sentences.

"Do you love him?" Snape asked simply. That was what he really wanted to know. Harry was interested at what his own reply would be for he didn't think he knew the answer to it, but maybe the veritaserum did.

"Riddle told me that I cannot feel love and so cannot love anyone." The expression on Snape's face reflected how Harry felt at his ambiguous answer.

"Do you feel any affection for him? Do you want him to kiss you?"

Harry prayed that Snape has phrased the question correctly. "I do feel some form of affection for him and I would like it if he kissed me." Well, that was a start, Harry thought.

"Has he ever gone further than a kiss?" Snape was getting a little carried away with his questions.

"No," Harry said. "How do you know about us?"

Snape looked embarrassed. "I came back downstairs and saw you." At least he was being honest too.

Dumbledore took over questioning once more, but Harry did not know about the recent escape from Azkaban. After the series of questions, they realised that they had been there for almost 2 hours and Dumbledore allowed Harry to leave.

"Will the veritaserum have worn off?" Harry asked, afraid of encountering students and being unable to lie to them.

"It should've worn off around half an hour ago," Snape told him.

Harry suddenly wished he'd kept an eye on the time. Had he honestly answered the final questions about Riddle of his own accord? He hoped that he had still been under the effects of the potion; he was embarrassed enough already.

They had herbology the next morning where they got their first look at the dementors. They were like floating black cloaks at the edge of the forest and at the gates to the grounds. It was unusually cold for September and people said it was because of their presence. By the end of the day they had been banished from the grounds after news that a dementor had got too close during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson and made a fourth year faint. They were however, still guarding the school.

Harry didn't get up close with a dementor until the first Quidditch match of the year. He and Draco had been good beaters last year, but the Captain had decided to put their skills to other uses owing to the fact that they had lost the cup to Ravenclaw last year. Draco was now a chaser and Harry had become the seeker (which he had always wanted to be). Two of the larger sixth years now took their places as beaters.

The golden snitch was flying around far above the stands; Harry could see it glinting through the rain. He raced towards it and as he did so he saw dark shapes floating up there alongside him. The dementors' presence was making his hands so cold that they were numb. He reached out to try and grab the snitch, but it slipped from his numb fingers. Something felt wrong…he didn't feel right. Suddenly he was falling, he lost his grip on his broom, he was going to hit the ground at an alarming rate…he was going to die. He lost consciousness halfway to the ground when he heard a woman scream his name and woke up in the hospital wing a few hours later.

"How am I alive?" Harry asked when he opened his eyes to see the Slytherin team peering down at him.

"Dumbledore broke your fall," Adrian Pucey, one of the chasers, told him.

Maybe Voldemort had managed to cover his bases. But if Dumbledore had not been there, would someone have reacted quick enough to save him? Could Snape have rescued him?

They all started talking to him at once, telling him how bad it was, how they thought he was a goner and complaining that they had lost to Hufflepuff.

"Not your fault though," they all muttered.

"Harry, your broom…" Malfoy finally piped up after a long silence on his behalf. "It umm…was blown into the Whomping Willow." He showed Harry the bits of wood they had managed to recover.

"Can we fix it?" Harry asked. It was his first gift from his father and he was sad to part with it so soon.

"It's not possible," Draco said.

At that moment Snape burst into the hospital wing and rushed forward when he saw that Harry was awake and pulled him into a hug.

"Harry, I'm so glad you're okay," he said. "I thought I was going to lose you." Clearly Snape would have been in no state to save Harry when he saw his only son falling to his death.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Harry patted his father's back, aware that this was causing whispers among his team mates.

Snape got up and took one last look at his son before leaving him to his peers. Harry told them that he was exhausted and could use some sleep. They all began to leave.

"Draco, leave that here," he said, pointing to the broom remains that he was still holding. Draco placed them at the end of Harry's bed before leaving him alone.

The first trip to Hogsmeade came at the end of October, the weekend before Halloween. Harry was really excited about it after hearing about all the shops from the older students. It was on the morning of the trip that Harry realised that he hadn't asked Snape to sign his form. He raced off to his office which was empty for once. Perhaps he was still enjoying breakfast upstairs… Harry visited all the usual places that he would expect to find his father, but he was no where to be found.

"Professor McGonagall!" Harry called as he reached the courtyard where the students were gathering.

"Yes, Potter?"

"Do you know where Snape is?"

"He's gone to London," she said.

Harry wasn't expecting to hear that. Why wouldn't Snape tell him something like that? "When will he be back?"

"Maybe tonight, perhaps tomorrow. I don't know. Why do you need to see him so badly?"

"I need him to sign my Hogsmeade form."

McGonagall nodded. "Well, I'm sorry, Potter, I can't let you go."

"Please, Professor."

"If it wasn't for the state of things, prisoners on the loose and dementors about, then I would. I'm sorry, Potter, maybe next time."

Harry slumped away and watched as the students left to go and enjoy themselves. He now had nothing to do for the rest of the day with all of the people he'd usually spend time with out of the castle. He roamed the corridors for ideas of things he could do, not wanting to end up reading in the library. Luck was on his side today and he came across an open door that led to Lupin's office.

"What's that, Professor?" he asked from the doorway.

"It's a grindylow," Lupin said, looking at the creature in the glass tank. "We'll start studying them next week. Come in, Harry."

Harry walked in and looked closer at the grindylow. It looked like something he'd seen before… "Sir, do these live in the black lake?"

"They do. I suppose you've seen them from your common room?"

"Yeah, but never up close. They tend to keep their distance."

Lupin looked at Harry. "You have your mother's eyes."

"I've been told," Harry said.

"They would have been proud to have a son like you," Lupin noted.

Harry wondered how Lupin could suddenly assume something like this. Perhaps he gave off a good impression in class. "Sir, you do know –"

"That James wasn't your father? Yes, I'm aware. But he would have brought you up given the chance."

Again back to thoughts of what if such and such had happened… He tried to push the thoughts from his mind.

"I knew James well and Lily too," Lupin said. "We were at school together."

Harry didn't know what to say to this and found that the conversation was now making him quite uncomfortable. After an awkward silence Harry asked, "What is it that dementors do?"

"They feed off happy memories and make people relive their darkest times. Not very nice creatures and they're what we use to guard Azkaban."

Harry suddenly remembered the moments before he blacked out at the Quidditch match. "I heard a woman scream when they came near me," Harry said. He didn't know why he was suddenly telling Lupin this, but maybe as a DADA teacher he could shed some light on the subject. "I think it was my mother."

"You have a true horror in your past, it probably was her."

He half hoped that Lupin would say that his idea was ridiculous, but he was also glad that he had heard his mother's voice at last, even if it was in her last moments.

"Is there a way to stop them?" Harry asked.

"The dementors? Yes, but it's quite an advanced charm."

"I want to learn it," Harry said without a second thought. It wasn't that he was scared about meeting them again, but he hated the idea of coming across something which he couldn't defend himself against. Voldemort had sent him back to school for a number of reasons, learning as much as he could was one of them. If had a chance to master an extra spell, he had to take it.

Lupin looked at Harry; he really seemed serious about this. "Okay then, but it won't be easy. When is a good time for you?"

"Now," Harry said. Lupin seemed surprised at his eagerness. "I don't have anything to do today with everyone else at Hogsmeade."

"I still have a boggart upstairs; you'll have to learn to fear them quickly."

Harry followed Lupin up to the classroom where the boggart was rattling the wardrobe. He wondered what he would see when the boggart came out – he hadn't really feared anything in his life. Maybe he would be able to bend the boggart to his will and make it appear as a dementor. Before unleashing it, Lupin told him the incantation and to think of a happy memory. He wondered which memory was his happiest. After a quick debate, he chose the time when he left the Dursleys forever.

Lupin opened the wardrobe and, as Harry planned, a dementor glided out.

"Expecto patronum!" he yelled. A silvery wisp of smoke came out the end of his wand, but it was not enough to repel the creature before him. He was hearing his mother scream again and was falling backwards. Lupin was standing above him when he opened his eyes.

"How long was I out for?"

"Only a few minutes." Lupin handed him a square of chocolate. "Trust me, it helps."

Harry ate it and felt the positive effects instantly. Using the wall for support he got to his feet. "Again." This time he would use a different memory, the last one not being as strong as he'd imagined.

The boggart came out once more and Harry yelled the charm once more, a bit louder than last time. A kind of shield erupted from the end of his wand, pushing the dementor back until Lupin was able to close the door on it. Harry lowered his wand and let out the breath he didn't realise he had been holding.

"Well done," Lupin clapped him on the back. "You're a lot tougher than you look."

Harry had surprised himself at the speed with which he had picked up the charm. He almost wanted to walk out of the school and try it on a real dementor.

"Can I ask what the memory was?"

"It was a collection of different ones," Harry said, leaving out the fact that they all revolved around Tom Riddle.

When Harry was not occupied with something else, his thoughts fell back to Tom Riddle and why memories of him had led to a successful patronus. They hadn't spent much time together, but Harry felt as if he was missing his company. He considered sending an owl his way, but decided that Voldemort did not need to hear about his boring life at Hogwarts. It's not as if too much had happened in the last 2 months.

Something did happen on Halloween. Harry and Draco were leaving the feast when they heard a commotion happening on the Grand Staircase. They walked up the first flight and saw that the Gryffindors were huddled before a portrait. All along the staircase there were whispers of Sirius Black in the building. Dumbledore pushed past with Filch just behind him. Decisions were made up on the seventh floor which eventually travelled back down to the Slytherins. Everyone was to make their way back to the Great Hall while the school was searched. They even ended up sleeping in there which was rather fun. Teachers kept coming back to the hall with news that they hadn't managed to find Black. Harry wondered where he would hide if he were Black. He was a Death Eater, so maybe he knew parseltongue and could go and hide in the Chamber of Secrets and escape capture.

Black was not found and things returned to normal the next day, but people were still on the lookout, scared that Black would jump out from behind a suit of armour and kill them. Harry couldn't see what someone like Black would want with a student, but maybe there was something in Gryffindor Tower that he wanted.

Harry took a trip down to Snape's office with the intention of getting his Hogsmeade form signed, but when he got there he heard voices coming from inside. Someone was already there.

"Don't you trust me, Severus?" It was Lupin.

"I think you're helping your friend into the castle and as soon as I can prove it…" Snape began to speak in a low voice so that Harry couldn't hear what he said.

"At least he doesn't appear to be after Harry like we suspected."

"Maybe Black isn't aware that he's not a Gryffindor like James and Lily were – as far as we know, he's still in the dark," Snape said with a hint of spite in his voice.

"He has no reason to go after Harry, surely you know that."

There was a pause. "Why is he here then?"

"I don't know."

There were foot steps and Harry raised his hand as if just about to knock at the door.

"Ah, hello, Harry," Lupin said cheerily before walking upstairs.

Snape eyed Harry suspiciously as he walked in and Harry felt as if he knew that Harry had overheard his conversation.

"Dad, can you sign this?" Harry held out his form.

Snape looked at it as he took it. "With a mass murderer running loose I don't know if I should sign it."

"What do you know about Sirius Black?" Harry asked.

He guessed that he had kind of walked into that one. "Black is not the Death Eater that everyone thinks he is. His brother was at one point, but never Sirius. You may have heard that he sold your parents to Voldemort, but that was someone else called Peter Pettigrew."

Harry was taken aback by the amount of information Snape was disclosing. "What happened to Pettigrew?"

"Black killed him after he found out that he'd betrayed the Potters. He also killed some Muggles in the process which is why he was sent off to Azkaban." Snape leaned down to sign Harry's form and handed it back.

"Thanks." He took the form and stood for a moment, wondering if he had any other questions.

"Harry?" Snape asked. "If that's all I do have a few things to be getting on with."

"Oh. Right." Harry returned to the common room.

There wasn't a whisper of Sirius Black again for a long time. The morning post was arriving and it was a week until Christmas. An owl swooped down low and dropped a parcel in front of Harry, a broomstick shaped parcel. Harry's face lit up; he finally had a replacement for his Nimbus 2001. Before unwrapping it he read the tag just to make sure it was for him. _To: Harry J Potter._ There was nothing to say who it was from, but it could only really be one person.

"Are you going to open it?" Draco asked. "Or do we have to do it for you?"

Harry tore at the paper and the whole table seemed to gasp. There was a Firebolt now laying on the Slytherin table A_ Firebolt._ The latest broom, the fastest broom ever – it was something the professionals were using. When they had visited Diagon Alley last summer Harry and Draco had gawped at it, knowing there was no way either of their parents would buy them one when they already had brooms which were faster than everyone else in the school.

"Can I have a go?" Draco asked immediately.

"Sure, but I'm first." Harry picked up the broom and rushed outside into the courtyard where he took off straight away. The speed at which he was flying was insane. He did a lap around the castle before touching down and reluctantly giving Draco a chance to ride it. By the time Draco returned a queue of people seemed to have formed, all wanting a chance to ride it. Harry told them to go away as politely as he could manage, taking the broom back inside. He saw Snape when he walked into the entrance hall.

"Hey, dad!" Snape turned around to see his son smiling up at him. "Thanks for the broom."

"What broom?" Snape asked.

"This." Harry held it up like a fragile ornament. "The Firebolt."

"I didn't buy that."

Harry's face fell slightly. "Then who did?"

"I have no idea, give it here."

Harry pulled the broom towards him, clutching it tightly. "No. It's mine."

"Give it to me, Harry." When Harry refused to Snape said, "As your head of house I'm telling you to hand it over."

Realising that this was something more serious than Harry thought, he handed it over. "Why are you taking it?"

"Suspicious objects coming into the school are all being tested, this is one of them."

"How is a broom suspicious?"

"It's not the broom; it's the person that bought it for you and what they may have done to it." Snape sighed. "Harry, let's go somewhere, for a walk."

They walked out into the cold grounds and when they had gone out of earshot of those in the front courtyard Snape began to speak.

"We were never completely honest with you, Harry."

"About what?"

"Your relatives." Harry looked confused. "All of them, even if they were not related by blood. You have one more relative, but seeing as he has been in Azkaban since you were a child we almost forgot about him and never mentioned him."

"Is it Sirius Black?" Harry thought that he was the most likely option.

"Yes, Sirius is your God father," Snape said.

"Does he want something with me?" Harry asked, remembering the conversation he had overheard.

"Maybe. The general consensus is that he just wants to see you and speak with you. But who can be sure what a man wants once he has spent 12 years in Azkaban?" Snape paused for a moment. "Either way, he is believed to be a murderer and we have to protect the students of this school."

Harry wanted to talk to Black now. If he had another relative he wanted to meet him and learn more about his mother and James. But there was no way to find such a man. Voldemort had probably rounded up the Death Eaters, but if Sirius was not among them then he could not go there for help. And if the Ministry armed with dementors could not find him then how could a 13 year old?

Sirius was next sighted some months later. Ron Weasley had woken up to see him standing above his bed with a knife. Harry felt sorry for Ron; he couldn't seem to stay out of trouble, much like Harry. Both involved with the Chamber last year and now both connected to Black it appeared. Draco had told Harry the story during their divination lesson the morning after it had happened.

"They say that Weasley would have been killed if he hadn't woken up," Draco said. "And the gashes in his bed curtains are supposed to be this big." He indicated with his hands.

"I'm trying to read your palm here," Harry said, taking Draco's hand again.

"Ha, it's not true and we only make up a load of bull every time we come to this lesson."

Harry sighed; he was right. "So, I'll write down that my life is supposed to end next week. That should please Trelawney."

When lunch arrived, Harry made his way down to the Great Hall and took a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Ron.

"I heard what happened," Harry said quickly. He didn't like being at the table with half the table staring down to look at him. "Can I – do you mind if we take a walk?"

"Sure." Ron got up and followed Harry out into the grounds.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure people have been bugging you all day."

"Yeah, but I'd rather spend some time recounting it to just one person than a whole bunch." Ron bit into a sandwich he'd brought with him. He proceeded to tell Harry what he had told everyone else that day. "So, what do you think?"

"Malfoy wasn't exaggerating," Harry said honestly. "For once."

"But why does he want to kill me?"

This was the bit that puzzled Harry the most and so he decided it was time to tell Ron all that he had found out about Black.

"God father?" Ron yelled in surprise. "You sure do pick some weird relatives."

"It's not my fault that my parents had some whacky friends," Harry said. "Anyway, thanks for telling me what happened, I appreciate it. I've got Charms now, so I'd better be off."

"Harry? You know about Ginny…"

Harry remembered that they had never got round to speaking about this matter. "I was too late," he lied. "I'm sorry." He wished that it had been someone else's sister, but that was all in the past now.

Harry kept an ear open for any news on Black, especially when he visited Hogsmeade and could hear what had been going on there. But nothing seemed to happen and spring passed in an ordinary fashion. Harry had expected Tom to write to him or to hear something from Snape, but it seemed that the Dark Lord had made no effort to contact him since last August. Truthfully, he felt slightly put out. Riddle had seemed so interested in him, but maybe he was easily bored or forgot. Instead of dwelling on matters outside of Hogwarts, he concentrated on the ones inside, like the end of year exams. They didn't seem to be too hard in Harry's opinion, but he could see some people stressing over the amount of revision they were trying to cram in.

Harry was sitting in the front courtyard, taking a break from looking at books when he saw Ron racing out the entrance hall with Hermione following closely behind yelling at him.

"Just leave me alone!" Ron yelled at her.

"Why don't you just admit you were wrong and apologise?" Hermione asked with a hard tone.

"Not until I see him alive!"

Harry got up and grabbed Hermione's arm to stop her following Ron.

"Get off me!" she screamed and then looked at who had stopped her. "Harry!"

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Hermione told Harry about Ron's rat and how everyone thought that her cat had eaten him.

"We're going down to Hagrid's to get him now," Hermione finished.

"Mind if I tag along?" Harry asked. Although he had seen Hagrid in classes this year, he hadn't paid him a personal visit yet. "I could use some time away from revising."

"Come on then," Ron said, getting impatient.

They walked in almost silence and when they arrived Ron was happily reunited with Scabbers. When Hagrid finally told them to get going because of nightfall they walked back up to the castle chatting like old friends. Ron managed to drop Scabbers halfway back and ran after the rat until he was sitting under the Whomping Willow.

"Grim!" Ron yelled and a black dog ran past Harry and Hermione, dragging Ron down into a hole at the base of the tree. After struggling to get past the whirling branched, Harry and Hermione followed the tunnel below the tree.

"Honestly, Harry," Hermione said. "Whenever we meet you somewhere, something happens."

Harry laughed; it certainly seemed that way. "You can't blame me. We both come to our own conclusions and end up meeting each other at the end of them."

"Imagine what it would have been like if you'd been in Gryffindor," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Or if you two were in Slytherin," Harry countered.

"With the Weasley family history? Fat chance."

They stopped talking when they realised that they were nearing the end of the tunnel. Through a gap they could see Ron on a chair, his leg bleeding. They burst in and Hermione rushed to Ron's side.

"Sirius Black!" he yelled and pointed to the other side of the room where Black stood. Harry smiled; finally he had found his God father. No matter how much he wanted to launch into a conversation, he raised his wand.

"Why do you want to kill Ron?" he asked the man dressed in grey rags.

"Kill the boy?" Sirius asked. "No, his rat."

As Harry lowered his wand, Lupin burst in, took in the scene and then shared a moment with Sirius. Together they explained the truth behind everything. Peter Pettigrew was revealed for who he really was and Harry was given a choice: let Sirius kill Pettigrew right there or take him up to the school to receive the dementor's kiss. Harry thought about it… How much did Voldemort need a follower like this short mousy man? He may not be able to kill Voldemort, but killing the man that had betrayed his mother's trust would probably be just as rewarding.

As he was making his decision, Snape walked through the door and began to accuse Lupin of helping Sirius into the castle.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry aimed his spell at Snape who went flying into the broken bed at the end of the room.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry shrugged. "I'll apologise later, he'll forgive me." He looked up at Lupin and Sirius. "I've made my decision. Lupin, will you help Hermione to get Ron to the hospital wing? I think Sirius and I can handle this."

Lupin was surprised at Harry's request, but he followed it, understanding that it was something that involved them more than himself.

When they had finally left Harry looked up at Sirius. "I want to do it."

Sirius let out a small gasp. "Harry, no, James wouldn't have wanted…"

"He wasn't my father, and I don't think that Severus would approve anymore to be honest," Harry said.

"What about Lily?"

"She's dead; it doesn't matter to her anymore."

Sirius was surprised at Harry's words. "You're just 13, Harry. You don't have to get blood on your hands so young."

"You're still innocent, so walk out of here a free man; I was doomed for this life since I was a baby." Sirius didn't understand, and Harry was not prepared to tell him everything now. He had to kill Pettigrew now before Snape regained consciousness. "Tell me the curse."

"Harry, don't –"

Harry took the gag from Pettigrew's mouth. "Alternatively you can tell me," he said to Pettigrew. "Otherwise it will be a slow painful death at my hands using simple spells." He had a few spells in mind, but generally third years did not know many damaging spells. A little _incendio_ followed by _diffindo._ Then whatever he thought up next.

"It's a-avada…kedavra," Sirius said quietly.

"Please, have mercy, please, Harry," Pettigrew whimpered.

Harry did not listen and took a few steps back, pointing his wand at the mousy man. This was his revenge. Finally. He saw Sirius turn away from the scene before him – it was his fault; he had suggested it.

"Avada kedavra!" Harry shouted it with conviction. A green light fired from his wand and Pettigrew fell to the ground.

Sirius turned and Harry could see tears in his eyes for the man that had once been his friend. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in this shack; it must have been like a school reunion. Yet, Sirius had been prepared to do it, 12 years ago and today too. Harry patted him on the shoulder as he passed to go and check on Snape.

"Now what?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. You'll be a free man when we take his body back, won't you?"

"I suppose so. What will you do?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Go back to school."

"I mean in the summer."

"Go home," Harry said. Sirius however, was clearly quite behind with the times. "I live with Snape."

"Harry, I can offer you much better protection than Snape can."

"I don't require protection," Harry said. "Unless you know about something that's out to get me?"

"Voldemort."

This time Harry really laughed. "I'm sorry, Sirius, but he's already got me." Sirius was speechless. "Now, are you going to stand there are come back to the castle with me?" Harry made Pettigrew's body levitate in front of him as he began to walk back through the tunnel.

"They're going to ask who killed him," Sirius said.

It was a problem Harry hadn't thought of. "We'll get to that later."

There was a solution to his problem when they got out at the other end. By the gate they could see a band of dementors that were not supposed to be inside the grounds. The moonlight falling on them made them look more menacing than usual.

"We'll say that he was kissed by a dementor," Harry said.

"That doesn't explain why he's dead!" Sirius said.

"And you took pity on your old friend and killed him," Harry finished.

Sirius didn't say anything and Harry took this as a sign that he agreed to it.

"We should go," Sirius said. "They're coming towards us." Not only were the dementors coming their way, but they were doing so in such an organised manner which surprised Harry. They began to move away, but the dementors were gaining speed – had they finally figured out that Sirius was here?

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" This time there was not shield, but a silvery stag came out the end of Harry's wand. The dementors began to fall back and Harry could see that there must have been at least 10 and one seemed to have legs…

"Harry! STOP!" a familiar voice called. At the sound of it, Harry stopped and saw the face he'd wanted to see for so long in the light from his patronus. This time he allowed himself to run and hug Tom.

"I've missed you," Harry said without thinking. "Why are you wearing uniform?"

"A disguise," Tom said. His hair had also grown since they'd last seen each other. "I need to get into the school without being recognised for as long as possible." He cupped Harry's face in his hand. "You've grown so much this year."

"Why -" Harry began to ask, but Tom placed a finger on his lips.

"Not now, Harry. I need to find Neville Longbottom."

"He'll be in the Gryffindor Tower," Harry said.

"Thank you, my dear. I won't be long." Tom began to stride up to the school, but paused when he passed Pettigrew's body which had fallen to the floor. "A shame, but not a great loss."

Sirius watched, slightly confused, as Riddle walked away. "Who was that?"

"Tom Riddle," Harry said. "He's who we'll blame for Pettigrew's death."

"But…how? I mean, did he just walk through those gates with a bunch of dementors?"

"Of course he did," Harry said as if it were obvious. "Voldemort has the power to do these kinds of things."

Sirius looked alarmed now. "You just let him into the school? To find a kid?"

"What's wrong with that?" Harry asked.

Sirius shook his head. How dumb was his God son? "He'll kill him!"

"Maybe," Harry said thoughtfully. "I'd bet that Neville survives." Harry levitated Pettigrew once more and made his way up to the school.

Riddle, being the charming young man he was, had managed to get past the Fat Lady quite easily. On his way up he had only passed one person, Professor McGonagall, one of the only people he didn't want to see in case she recognised him. Luckily she was in such a hurry that she took no notice of him, even if he did appear to be a student out of bed. He checked the boys' dormitories one by one and found that the third years were in the room at the top of the stairs. One bed was already empty which made Riddle's job a little easier. He crept around each bed, looking for signs of who they were. Longbottom had left a letter on his bedside table with his name on the envelope. He seemed to be sleeping deeply enough. Gently, Riddle took the boy's right arm (it was the one easiest to reach) and pointed his wand at it. A mark began to appear, like something being burned into his skin, and that's exactly how it felt because Neville's eyes flew open and he began to yell. Riddle held on long enough to finish making the mark, but then he had to move; Longbottom was still yelling, the others were waking up and people would be upon him if he stayed too long. The best exit was out of the window, where there was no chance of bumping into old teachers or class mates. As he fell to toward the earth, he seemed to turn into a black mist and soon he was flying back towards the gate.

Harry had just reached the hospital wing where Ron was lying with his leg in a cast. Dumbledore and McGonagall were there, sorting out things. The Minister of Magic was coming and soon Sirius would be free. Sirius himself was more concerned about Voldemort being in the castle. Lupin had rushed up to Gryffindor Tower, but he was too late. He came back with Neville alive and Harry gave Sirius a told-you-so look. Neville showed everyone his arm which now had a red mark slithering around it like a snake.

Snape eventually arrived after regaining consciousness. Seeing the amount of people he decided he would deal with Harry later. For the first time, Harry saw his father's dark mark and it looked just like Neville's mark apart from the fact that Neville's wound around his whole forearm.

"What does this mean?" Dumbledore asked Snape. They both seemed to stare at Harry and Neville in turn. The prophecy had meant Harry, surely, but now it could be Neville. One of these boys was supposed to be the saviour of the wizarding world, but which one?

"Where is he?" Snape asked, turning to Harry.

"Huh?" Harry had been deep in thought.

"Where's the Dark Lord?"

"I don't know," Harry said. It was a good point. Riddle seemed to have disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Why hadn't he taken Harry with him? Why had he marked Neville in such a way?

"Did you know he was coming?"

"No. He hasn't contacted me all year!" Harry was getting a little angrier than he thought he would. The night had finally come when he thought they would go off together… But wait – why did he suddenly care so much about being with Voldemort?

The doors to the hospital wing opened and Cornelius Fudge walked in, accompanied by two dementors. Dumbledore immediately objected to them being in the school and was pushing Fudge back outside. When the returned there was a long explanation followed by making decisions on what to do next. Harry sat on an empty bed, staring out into the night sky. He didn't care much about what happened as long as Sirius was declared innocent and allowed to walk away free that evening.

"Off having another adventure with Weasley and Granger?" Malfoy asked.

"Yeah, I got to meet my God father because of them," Harry said.

Malfoy was about to go on, but stopped himself. They were on the Hogwarts Express after another eventful end to the year. Draco and Harry were alone in their compartment because Harry had decided that he wanted some peace and quiet from the games the other Slytherins were playing. Draco had tagged along because he had questions for Harry. He wanted to ask them, but there was something about the aura Harry was giving off that told the blond boy that today was not the day to ask.

"Will you come to visit?" Draco asked as the train pulled into King's Cross.

"I guess I will." He knew he would if that's where Voldemort was still staying.

The train journey with Snape was just as awkward as the journey to London. Snape had, as predicted, forgiven Harry, even though he was quite mad about the force Harry had used to render him unconscious. He had also been disappointed to learn that Harry had killed Pettigrew. No one seemed to understand how rewarding it had felt, to steal something as precious as life from someone that had helped to steal his childhood.

As soon as they arrived home, Harry dropped his trunk in his room and grabbed the floo powder. He apologized to the Malfoys who were eating dinner and made his way up the stairs. He didn't bother to knock and walked straight into the room where Voldemort had always been. The room was empty, but that didn't matter to Harry. He took a seat on the bed and decided that he would wait.

Half an hour passed before someone came upstairs; it was Draco.

"Father said that he might not return until midnight. And Snape came looking for you."

Harry looked at a clock on the desk. It was only 8…he could be here for another 4 hours. Maybe it would be a good idea to go home and unpack to pass time.

It was the next afternoon before he got his audience with Voldemort. He had returned at midnight, but Voldemort had just got back from Bulgaria and was too tired to talk to Harry.

"Why didn't you contact me all year?" Harry asked.

"You never contacted me," Tom countered. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then realised that his point was quite valid. "I didn't want to trouble you with my problems and have you waste your time writing to me when you could be learning something useful. So if you wanted to talk to me so desperately, why didn't you write to me?"

Suddenly Harry wasn't feeling very articulate. "I…well… You should ask me that question when I've had some veritaserum."

An amused expression crossed Tom's face. "Who slipped you that?"

"Dumbledore and my dad."

Tom was no longer amused, he looked quite serious now. "What did they ask you?"

Harry recounted as much of the conversation as he could remember and watched as Tom grew more worried. But then Harry reached the part where they asked about how he felt about Tom. Some of the worry faded and a smirk appeared.

"So you do like it?" Tom asked as he pressed his lips to Harry's once more. "Perhaps I should get some veritaserum and question you properly."

Harry giggled in such an uncharacteristic way that he turned red and hid his face.

"I will next time we meet, but I have to go now," Tom said.

"But why?"

"What you've told me has alerted me to what the enemy may be up to. It shouldn't take too long for me to make sure everything is secure." Then he was gone.

Harry didn't want to go home so soon, so when Draco offered him a quick game in his garden, Harry took the chance.

"What do you think of Pansy?" Draco asked as they walked.

"Parkinson?"

Draco nodded.

"Well…she's okay I suppose," Harry said. "I haven't really talked to her. She seems to stick to the other girls a lot."

"Do you think she's pretty?"

"Erm…" He hadn't really thought about it. "She looks okay."

"Better than the Granger girl?" Draco probed.

"Hey – I don't know what you're getting at here; I don't like either of them that much." No, he didn't like girls like some of the older boys did. He didn't want to tell Draco anything about him and Riddle either… Was he comparing his relationship with Riddle to that of a girlfriend and boyfriend?

"Well, I like Pansy," Draco said. "Do you think I should ask her out on a date?"

Harry was quite surprised at the suddenness of it all. Since when did Draco take an interest in girls? Harry didn't recall ever seeing the two together… Maybe Harry really had been too caught up in his own world recently.

"I don't think I'm good at giving this kind of advice," Harry said. "Zabini seems like the type that would know."

"I was going to ask him, but Father won't let anyone come round unless they're involved with Lord Voldemort."

"Well, you could write to him," Harry suggested.

"What? Could you imagine the look on his face when I suddenly write to him asking for advice on girls?"

Harry laughed at the notion. It would be like Goyle doing that to him. "Okay, well, I guess you should go for it if you like her in that way." Draco handed him a broom from the shed. "Say, Draco, how do you know if you like a person in that way? How do you know you like Pansy?"

Draco blushed. "Well, usually you like them because they're attractive in some way. You know, their hair or their eyes... And…maybe they're nice to you and like you too."

"Do you think Pansy likes you too?" Harry's question did nothing to make Draco's face less red.

"I guess so. She likes to play with my hair – that's what girls that like you do I think." Harry shrugged, having not previous experience. "And she wanted to hold my hand when he walked down to herbology once, but I told her that would be embarrassing. You know, I heard some of the older boys saying that there are some good books full of advice, but I couldn't bring one home – imagine if my parents found it!"

Snape's library didn't appear to house one book like the ones Draco had described much to Harry's disappointment. He felt as if he had put Draco through enough and they played Quidditch without another word about Draco's love life.

Harry came to learn that what Voldemort considered 'not long' was actually quite long in Harry's terms. Maybe it was because his days were no longer filled with lessons that each day seemed to drag by. It was the day after Harry's birthday when Riddle summoned Harry to the manor along with a few of his Death Eaters. Harry had to admit that he felt quite special sitting alongside them.

"Bellatrix, I need you to put a Gemino curse on the items in your vault," Voldemort said. "Do not forget to put it on the cup I put in there."

"Severus, there is a locket which I now believe is in the house where Sirius Black lives. I trust that Dumbledore has let you into the Order?"

"He has, my Lord."

"Good. I need you to retrieve the locket." Voldemort gave a brief description, telling them it has once belonged to Salazar Slytherin.

"Lucius, I require your son."

Lucius was already a pale man, but any colour he did have now drained from his face. "You want Draco?"

"Yes, he has a job to share with Severus." Lucius seemed to gain some relief from the idea that Draco would not be alone in the matter. "I suggest you fetch him." Lucius got to his feet and left the room.

When Draco walked in he looked small and scared. Clearly he had never had anything to do with the Dark Lord until now.

"Now, Draco, you and Severus have a most important job. I need you to kill Albus Dumbledore." A shocked silence followed the request. When no one spoke, he continued. "I expect you to return to Hogwarts and take him down when it suits you. When you succeed I will come to take the school. There are two other things. Harry, you can help with these. I believe that Dumbledore is in possession of a ring. Gold with an engraved black stone. Retrieve it. You do not have to give it to me, but once you have it keep it safe and tell me what condition it's in. Finally, there is a room in Hogwarts that not many people ever find. It is known as the Room of Requirement and is on the seventh floor. There is an important object in there. I do not want you to go looking for it or to remove it if you do happen to find it. But keep an eye on the room itself, if people start to become interested in it and start to go there frequently let me know."

"If anyone was to remove it, how would be know?" Draco asked in a shaking voice. "Could you tell us what the object looks like?"

"It is like a tiara, a diadem to be more precise," Voldemort said. "Bella, the sooner the better." Bellatrix stood up and hurried out. "Come, Harry." Harry got up and followed Riddle upstairs. "Now, what's this I hear about you killing Pettigrew?" he asked once the door was closed.

"I killed him," Harry said without emotion.

"You killed one of my Death Eaters," Riddle said.

Harry shrugged. "I wanted to." Riddle looked at Harry expectantly. "It was the revenge I never got, it felt good."

"I'm proud of you." Harry was surprised at Tom's reaction. "I wasn't sure if you had it in you, but you did and at a younger age than I did."

"The opportunity presented itself."

"Exactly – and you took it." He pulled Harry closer, both hands holding his face as he looked into Harry's eyes. "Ah yes, happy birthday for yesterday, my dear. I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

"That's alright; you were out checking on the other horcruxes, weren't you?"

"I was. It seems that a few people have figured out my little secret, but I'll put a stop to them."

"What's special about the objects?" Harry asked.

"The locket was Slytherin's, the cup was Hufflepuff's, the diadem was Ravenclaw's and the ring belonged to my pureblood grandfather."

"Why didn't you use something of Gryffindor's?"

"I could never find anything," Riddle said with a hint of sadness. "But never mind. I have the veritaserum if you're ready to start answering my questions."

"Sure." Harry sat on the bed with Tom and took a glass of red liquid that the man had just conjured up. "What is it?"

"The best red wine I've tasted," he said as a poured a few drops of veritaserum into Harry's glass. "I think that a mixture of wine and potion would produce better effects than usual." He raised his own glass. "To your health, Harry."

"And yours," Harry said as he knocked his glass against Tom's. Then he took a large sip. He did want to down it, but felt that he shouldn't. "Honestly you should've just given me the potion."

"There's no fun in that. Besides, I wanted to share your first glass of wine with you. Assuming Snape hasn't already done so."

"No, but we did have butterbeer together once."

"How is the wine?"

Compared to the spiked tea Dumbledore had offered him, it was plain. "It's different. Not quite my thing."

Tom smiled. "You'll develop a taste for it, I'm sure."

Harry wasn't sure about that. Usually if he disliked something the first time he never changed his opinion. Still, he continued to drink to make sure that he would be able to answer the questions in a way that satisfied himself as well as Tom.

"Now, when I came to Hogwarts last month you said that you missed me. What did you mean by that?"

"I had wanted to see you again for a while."

"But why did you want to see me?" Riddle asked.

"Because I like being with you."

"You told Snape that you like it when I kiss you, didn't you?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed.

Riddle leaned over and kissed Harry. "Do you still like it?"

"Yes, I like it more now than I did then."

Next he pushed Harry so that the boy was lying on the bed. "He also asked if it had gone further. How far would you like it to go?" There was a mischievous smile on Riddle's face.

"A bit further."

"How far?"

"I don't know," Harry said honestly. That was a shame, he wished he knew.

Riddle shrugged off his suit blazer and undid the first couple of buttons on his shirt. "Do you find me attractive?"

"Yeah, you should keep those buttons undone more often." Harry blushed at his honesty.

Tom slipped a hand under Harry's shirt which roamed his body while he kissed Harry once more, dragging it out until they both needed air. The contact made Harry more uncomfortable than usual and he resorted to rolling onto his side when Tom let go so that he could try and hide whatever was going on in his pants.

"Is that far enough?" Riddle asked as the roaming hand came to rest on Harry's hip.

"No, I think there's still some way to go." Harry was worried that Tom would soon find out what kind of reaction he had had and wished that he was able to lie. Then they could stop and Harry could run from the situation he had landed himself in.

"What's with the face?" Tom asked as he discarded his shirt on the floor.

How he wished he could reply with 'nothing.' "I'm worried about how far this is going to go."

"Harry, you can tell me to stop whenever you want," Tom said as he rolled Harry onto his back and unbuttoned his shirt.

"I know, but I don't think the veritaserum will let me."

"Then at least I'll know how much you want me." Riddle straddled Harry's hips. "And from what I'm sitting on, I think that you do want me."

Harry blushed. "I thought we couldn't feel love."

"I think this might, at the moment, be more correctly called lust." Riddle decided to skip straight to removing Harry's trousers. Harry wanted to stop Tom, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead a hid his face using his arms while Riddle rendered him naked.

"Harry, let me see your face."

Harry lowered his arms slightly so that his eyes could be seen. "No. I look silly."

"How cute."

"Exactly!"

Riddle grabbed Harry's arms and pinned them above his head. "All of this hiding is making you more adorable, so I'd stop if you don't like looking cute. I just want to see your beautiful face."

"But I can't – I look stupid."

Riddle ruffled his hair. "No one else is looking, only me."

"That's the problem!"

"Trying to impress me?" Riddle mused. "Don't worry; you're doing a good job. So keep your arms away or I'll be forced to tie them to the bed." Riddle then took hold of Harry's member and the boy squirmed at the touch. "Relax, my dear. It'll feel better if you don't resist." He pumped slowly at first, watching for each new facial expression that Harry made.

"Nngh…you should go faster," Harry said.

"Now you're getting it," Riddle said more to himself than to Harry. He didn't go faster as such; he moved down to take Harry in his mouth. The way that Harry's hips bucked told Tom that it was a good move. As he began to suck, Harry began to moan. Harry felt good and he felt as if the pleasure was building up inside him.

"T-Tom…Tom…I'm…" He felt a great release and came. Riddle swallowed his load before coming to lie beside Harry.

"How was that? Too far?"

"Not at all…it felt wonderful."

Riddle smirked; it had all gone just as he had intended. "Maybe next time we go further."

"There's more?" Harry asked, wondering what could feel more wonderful than what he had just experienced.

"In a sense," Riddle said cryptically. "It's all fair and well that you feel good when I pleasure you, but I want us to feel good together. At the same time."

Oh. Harry had just realised that he hadn't really given Riddle anything in return. "Do you want me to…?" Harry asked.

"No, no," Riddle said. "I think it's time that you went home, but maybe next time you can repay me."

"Sirius is very interested in seeing you," Snape said one morning.

Harry had wondered when he would hear from his God father and to be honest, he wasn't very interested in spending time with him. Nowadays he only wanted to spend time with Voldemort who once again seemed to be busy; he really wasn't an easy man to get hold of.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Harry said.

"Neither do I, but it's the third time he's requested it."

"Can't you just tell him I'm busy or something?"

Snape looked at Harry. "He knows that you're not doing much this holiday. But if you really aren't interested in him I'll be more than happy to pass the message along."

"He's in the Order, isn't he?"

"Naturally."

"Then he'll be on Voldemort's hit list, I don't want him in any danger." What little he knew of Sirius was enough for him. If he and Riddle kept using veritaserum (Harry was quite keen on the stuff now) then there was a risk of Harry being exploited for information not related to how much he fancied Riddle (he had finally admitted that fact to himself).

"Well, I best be off to tell him then." Snape stood up. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Once again, Harry found himself with nothing to do. Perhaps it was time to do some work or take a trip to see Draco…

"Harry, you came," Riddle said as Harry walked into his room and sat in his lap.

"Of course I did. Why would I refuse an invitation?" Harry had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity for Tom to contact him.

"Now what's with this sudden show of affection?" he asked. "Since when did you greet me by sitting in my lap?"

"Since now," Harry said.

"I think someone's finally figured out what he wants."

Harry smiled. "Perhaps." He wasn't about to start telling Tom about his new nightly activities.

"As much as I'd like to entertain you, love, I've called you here to talk about our next moves." Riddle pushed Harry out of his lap. "And I can't do that when you're acting like an adorable little kitten." Harry sat on the bed, leaving Riddle alone in the large armchair.

"So, do I finally get to join you?" Harry asked.

"You already have, dear."

"No, I mean come with you wherever you disappear to, you know, rule the world together."

"It's not time for that yet," Riddle said and he saw Harry's face fall.

"You told me that you would come for me last year and you never did."

"Things have happened… Especially recently. I need as many people as I can get in Hogwarts, you're doing me a special job and I'll reward you when it's over. Besides, I'm going to station another Death Eater in Hogwarts this year: Barty Crouch Jr. But he'll look like Mad-Eye Moody to you."

"Can't we leave these jobs to Draco and Snape?" Harry asked.

"We could, but in order to protect you it would be a lot easier to send you back to school. If you knew more advanced magic I would consider it. You would only slow me down."

"Then teach me!"

Riddle sighed. "It would take too long."

"I mastered a patronus in less than an hour!"

"Harry, I'm telling you that you're going back to school. Being a horcrux does not make you exempt from these things."

Harry bit his lip. He wanted to fight back, but he knew that Riddle was right. Why did he have to sound so much like Snape when he said it? He fell back on the bed to calm himself down. Then Riddle was climbing on top of him and Harry noticed that he had undone his top buttons.

"Oh no, no," Harry said as he scrambled out from under Tom.

"I thought that this was what you wanted when you came in here?"

Harry was off the bed and walking towards the door. "Yeah, I did. But I need… You can't just… I'm a bit ticked off and I don't want you to think that doing anything like _that _will make it all okay."

Tom rolled his eyes. "That's because you know it will."

Harry shook his head and walked out the door, shutting it firmly behind him. He slumped against it. Damn. He found it so hard to be angry with the man and it was all so frustrating. One day he was there, the next he was gone. Had Harry just willingly given up time he could be spending with Riddle? Maybe it was a good thing. He couldn't spend all of his time lusting over the man. But what if Riddle was wrong and it was love? Could two people like themselves discover love in this situation?

The door opened and Harry fell back. Riddle looked down at him. "Coming back inside?"

Harry huffed, got up and sat down once more.

"If you were really angry, you would have left without a second thought; that's what anger does to a person." Riddle sipped some tea. He offered Harry a cup. Harry looked down at the tea… Was there something in it? Why was he suddenly so wary of people offering him drinks? He took a sip and realised it was the same kind of tea that Dumbledore had given him. Maybe this was what real wizards' tea was. He had given up muggle tea many years ago because the Dursleys' tea had tasted quite poor.

"Now, why were you outside my door?" Riddle asked.

"I couldn't stay mad at you." Harry cursed under his breath. "What's in this tea?"

"Just a few things," Tom said casually. Clearly whatever was in Harry's tea was not in Tom's.

"Are you going to use me?" Harry asked.

"Not really, it depends what you mean by that."

Harry decided it was best not to put anymore ideas into Riddle's head.

"So, tell me about your new found feelings for me," Tom said.

Harry knew what was coming and turned red at the idea of spilling his secrets. "I love you in some way. Or I feel what I would consider love. I can't get you out of my head and you've been in my dreams."

"And what happened in the dreams?"

Oh God, the one question he couldn't stand to hear himself answer. "You started by kissing me, all over my body and then you fucked me." Harry's hands flew to his mouth. Was this the veritaserum talking? It sounded so much worse when it was phrased like that. Harry had wanted to say 'we made sweet love' or something along those lines.

Riddle could see the discomfort that Harry was in and decided that one last question wouldn't hurt. "What did you think when you woke up?"

_No. No. No. Lie! Lie! _Harry thought to himself. "I woke up hard and jacked off to the idea."

"What a dirty boy my Harry has become in such a short space of time," Riddle said.

"Bastard," Harry muttered.

"And such filthy language too!" Riddle ran a hand down Harry's body which was still clothed. "I think it's time to make your dream a reality." He grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door. "I think we'd rather we were neither heard nor seen."

Harry nodded imagining an innocent Draco walking past and hearing moans coming from inside (and name screaming if it turned out to be anything like his dreams). Riddle then turned his attention to Harry's clothes.

"So, I was on top in these dreams?" Riddle asked as he pulled Harry's t-shirt off.

"Yeah, but you are older than me," Harry said in his defence. Riddle tugged at Harry's trousers. "You know that you were naked too." He was beginning to feel a little self conscious of his skinny frame.

"I intend to be." Riddle undid his shirt, revealing a perfect torso – well, in Harry's eyes anyway. Before removing his final piece of clothing he bent over, locking lips with Harry while he worked the boy into a hardened state. "Will you do the honours?" Riddle gestured towards the button of his trousers. Harry fiddled with the button and unzipped the small zip.

"No underwear?" Harry noted. "Kinky."

Riddle kicked off the garment and then positioned himself between Harry's legs. "Now, how rough was I?" he asked as he pumped himself, coating himself with lube.

"Very," Harry said. "Try and be a bit less like an animal."

Riddle smirked. "But if I was a beast in your dream then you must want me to be that way."

"But, Tom, the first time's supposed to be special isn't it? Like a kind of bliss." Harry pouted.

"Have it your way, my little virgin. Wait – you didn't get it on with anyone in Hogwarts did you?" He drove a finger into Harry's entrance which made the boy gasp.

"No, like I said, you're the only one I've ever felt this way about." A second finger, a louder yell.

"Honestly, Harry, you don't have to 'love' someone to end up in this situation." Riddle drove into Harry who closed his eyes against the unexpected pain. "You're so tight, Harry, you could relax a little." Harry tried to do as Tom said, but it wasn't easy. Riddle began to rock his hips, slowly at first until the pained expression on Harry's face began to dissolve into one of pleasure. Then he picked up the pace, he had waited so long to do this to the boy and it had been worth the wait.

"Ah, Tom…that's the spot!" Harry moaned. Riddle pounded into Harry harder. God, the boy looked so hot in his ecstasy – back arched, nipples rock solid, a beautiful expression plastered on his face and making noises that would drive anyone over the edge. But Tom held on, waiting until Harry could take no more either.

"C-call my…name, Harry," Riddle whispered.

"Mmm…Tom…faster!"

"No…call your master's name."

There was a mixed noise from Harry – half moan, half laugh. "Voldemort!"

"Ah, that's it!" That name was so much more alluring, much more powerful…

A series of gasps escaped the boy and he released all over the pair of them. Riddle came at the sight of the boy and then collapsed next to his lover.

"We should do that again," Harry panted.

"I didn't think that the aphrodisiac was that strong," Riddle laughed.

"You put what in my tea?" Harry was horrified. "You could've left that out!"

"I think it worked quite well; it was only a weak one." Riddle ran a finger through the cum on Harry's stomach and then licked it off. If Harry had been horrified before, he looked even more so now. "Sweet," Riddle said. "Well, I have to clean you up before I send you home. Imagine the look on Severus's face if he found out."

Harry's eyes widened at the thought. What a conversation that would be… He seemed to have avoided the 'facts of life' conversation which Draco had said had scarred him for life ("Father was quite descriptive and then I had a horrible image of him and Mother."). But this was with another male… Actually, he definitely never wanted Snape to know anything about this.

"Let me stay with you tonight," Harry said. He assumed that Voldemort went to sleep during the night like the rest of the world.

"I can't, there are things to do. Besides, your father would question it, so I'd suggest you go back tonight."

"Not now, let's just rest for a while." Harry rested his head on Riddle's chest and closed his eyes. As much as the other things pressed on Riddle's mind, he couldn't bear to leave the boy so soon. He watched as Harry fell asleep on him and thought of how much he'd enjoyed corrupting the boy's innocence.

When Harry woke he could see the moon out of the bedroom window and was surprised to find himself clean and wearing a shirt that was too large for him. Riddle wasn't around and guessed he hadn't been for some time. Harry slipped back into his clothes which had been folded up and left on the chair. He buried his face in the shirt he had been wearing; it smelt just like Riddle. Reluctantly, he hung the shirt on the back of the chair and walked downstairs to the fireplace.

"I wondered when you would return," Snape said as Harry walked into the living room. "I thought that maybe the Dark Lord had kidnapped you for some obscene reason."

"I fell asleep," Harry said truthfully. "And no one bothered to wake me up."

"Must have been awfully tiring talking to him."

"I didn't get much sleep last night." It wasn't too far from the truth.

"Is he still there?" Snape asked.

"I didn't see him when I woke up," Harry said. "Why?"

"I have the locket he wanted."

"Can I see it?" Harry asked, he was interested in seeing the objects that Riddle had chosen as horcruxes, especially now he knew that he was one.

Snape held out the locket which was quite large with an ornate S. It was heavy in Harry's hands and he could feel a faint ticking within in. He tried to prise it open, but to no avail.

"I don't think it's supposed to be opened," Snape commented.

"I know, but I wanted to try." Harry gave it back.

"Do you want to do the Diagon Alley trip tomorrow?"

Harry had almost forgotten that his letter from Hogwarts had arrived in the post that morning along with Riddle's note. He then realised that this meant that there must only be a week or so until he returned to school. "Sure." He didn't really want to, but he might as well get it out of the way.

Harry spent most of the last week of the summer hanging around Malfoy Manor. Mainly he ended up spending time with Draco who spent more and more time planning how he was going to ask Pansy out. It was quite boring to listen to Malfoy drone on, but he wanted to be around when Riddle finally made his next appearance.

"Do you think I should approach her on the train or wait until after the feast?" Draco wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Maybe on the train." At least then he wouldn't have to listen to him for hours. "I'm going to head off."

Draco said goodbye and Harry left his room, but before stepping into the fire once more he checked Riddle's room. What Harry saw in there surprised him. The few personal effects that had been in the room were now gone – most noticeably the large chair Riddle always sat in. The wardrobes were also empty of clothes. It was quite strange… Had Voldemort moved without telling him? Harry went downstairs in search of someone who could tell him what was going on.

"Hey, Dobby," Harry said, spotting the house elf polishing an ornament in the hall. "Do you know where Voldemort has gone?"

The elf squeaked at the use of the name. "You-Know-Who moved out 2 days ago, Harry Potter, sir."

"But do you know where he went?"

"Dobby doesn't get told such things, sir, only what goes on in this house."

Harry thanked the elf and went in search of Lucius who was bound to know. He was in the study and had just covered something when Harry walked in.

"Mr. Malfoy, where has Voldemort gone?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Lucius said.

"What? He didn't tell you?"

Lucius shook his head. "I don't think he told anyone."

Harry slumped back, wondering where Riddle could have gone. To another Death Eaters' house? Or maybe he had his own house? When he got back he scribbled a note and sent Hedwig off to wherever Riddle was. The only problem was, would Harry receive a reply before starting school?

Harry had packed his trunk and was ready to leave when Tom Riddle appeared on their doorstep. He stood there with Hedwig on his arm.

"You have a very smart owl, Harry," he said as Harry put her into her cage.

"Where did you disappear to?"

Tom stepped into the house before answering. "I've moved back into my old house and been making final arrangements with Crouch for his time at Hogwarts."

Harry was aware that his father might be listening and refrained from saying anything too risky. "I thought that we would be spending more time together."

"We will, when I come for you."

"And when will that be?" Harry asked; he had been waiting over a year for that day now.

"That depends on when Dumbledore is killed."

How frustrating – there was no definite date. And who knows, they might not be able to kill the man!

Riddle could see that Harry was unimpressed with his answer. "If they don't succeed by the Christmas holidays you can come and stay with me."

Harry couldn't believe what he had just heard. "And you'll actually be here? With me while I'm there?"

"You don't have any confidence in me do you?"

Harry decided that he had to speak his mind on this one, without veritaserum. "No, I don't at the moment. You say that we'll be together, but then you disappear for days or weeks at a time with no word from you. I thought that after our last meeting things would change, but they didn't. You're just so unpredictable."

"Cloaked in mystery?"

"Yeah. But that's not how I thought it would be."

Riddle smirked. "That's Voldemort for you," he remarked as if he were not the dark lord in question. "I'm always with you, well, a piece of me is."

"That's not the same as having you with me in the flesh."

Snape appeared at the top of the stairs.

"I'm making you late," Riddle said.

Harry grabbed the front of Riddle's shirt as if that would keep him from walking away. "Answer my question; would you be there?"

"Of course, I wouldn't invite you and just leave you there alone. Now, off to London and don't forget about the Room of Requirement, I'm sure you'll find other uses for it." Tom brushed his lips against Harry's before taking off.

Snape didn't question the exchange, but still looked at Harry questioningly.


	4. 4th Year

**His Last Horcrux (4)**

Harry figured that he had done something right; Riddle was now sending him weekly letters. They usually arrived on Saturday morning and Harry spent most of his weekend composing a reply. Draco probably would have said something if he was still hanging out with Harry, but they weren't often seen together anymore. Ever since Draco had taken Pansy on a date (if a small picnic by the black lake constituted a date) they had been pretty inseparable. At times it was quite sickly to watch; Pansy had apparently fancied Draco since first year, so they had started by sucking each others faces off. If it wasn't for Tom's letters Harry might have jumped off the Astronomy Tower in the first few weeks. Since then he had become better friends with Blaise Zabini, but they didn't gel the same way they he and Draco had. Maybe he had better join Gryffindor because spending time with Ron was less awkward.

There was something to excite Harry along with the whole school. The Triwizard Tournament was going to take place – Dumbledore had tried to stop it going ahead, but the Ministry would hear none of this business about Voldemort being back. As much as Harry and the majority of the school had wanted to enter, only those who were 17 were allowed to, which Harry thought was rubbish.

"Aren't you entering?" Harry asked Fred and George.

"We can't," Fred said.

"Won't be 17 until April," George finished.

"Oh, I was going to root for you as well."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, mate," George said.

Fred pulled out a sickle. "This is where our new interest lies. Bets, merchandise…money making!"

"Why don't you go for it?" George asked.

"Me? There's no way I'll get past that age line – Dumbledore drew it himself," Harry said.

"We heard you have connections," Fred said. "Apparently Snape would whip you up a more powerful potion than we could, or You-Know-Who could even hoodwink the Goblet for you."

"What?" Harry didn't know how they knew things like that.

"Ron's not very good at hiding things, but we figure that as long as you keep us in your good books, we stand more of a chance."

"I don't want to kill anyone," Harry said.

"We weren't saying you do," George laughed, trying to lighten the tone. "But I wouldn't want to get in You-Know-Who's way if you know what I mean."

Harry nodded. He hadn't really thought about what Voldemort would do once he took over the school. Surely he wouldn't kill off students for no reason? Unless he already had one.

"Boys, Mr. Crouch made it quite clear that only those who were 17 may enter their name into the Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore said to Harry and Neville who stood in his office. He had offered them both tea, but only Neville had accepted.

"I didn't put it in," Neville pleaded. Dumbledore soon let the poor boy leave as he was working himself into quite a state.

"I didn't put my name in either," Harry said. "I would drink your tea, but after last time I'd rather not."

"I do apologise for doing that to you, Harry." Dumbledore had a look of regret on his face. "It was Severus's idea and it was a good one."

"It made me lose trust in you both. I make my own tea now." Harry didn't mention that he had actually quite enjoyed the experience.

"I'll take your word this time," Dumbledore said. "We are only trying to protect you."

"I know. I'd rather not go up against more experienced contenders." Harry turned to leave and spotted a ring on one of the tables that filled Dumbledore's office. Gold with a black stone… A familiar description. "Sir, can I ask where you got this ring?"

"It was just something that I found over the summer."

Sure it was, Harry thought. The black stone was cracked down the middle, not as it had been described to him. He picked it up and ran a finger across the stone. It had to be the one Voldemort had been talking about.

"I'd appreciate it if you returned that," Dumbledore said as Harry went to pocket the ring.

"Oh, yeah." Harry placed it back where he had found it. Still he had to tell Riddle and that was the first thing he did when he left the headmaster's office.

Riddle's reply came the next morning, sending another owl instead of Hedwig who would have been too tired.

_Harry, _

_The ring you described is the horcrux I feared it was. It sounds as if Dumbledore has destroyed it. You need to make sure that you and Draco are keeping an eye on the room because he will begin to look for more. I am not saying that he knows how many there are, but I once told someone how many I would hypothetically like to make. I shall not discuss that here; your mail could be being tracked for all I know. Yet I fear that Severus has already let that piece of information slip. But I will say this; Draco and Severus need to think about completing their mission as soon as possible and you need to start watching your back. Dumbledore knows that you yourself are a horcrux and he will seek to destroy you too at some point. If he is still the caring old man I once knew, he will leave you alone for as long as he can manage, but the time will come eventually. I may come and retrieve you if things look bad._

_All my love,_

_Lord Voldemort._

Harry chuckled at the signature. Here he was, saying that Harry's mail might be being tracked and he goes and signs his letter with the name everyone knew him best by and the one Harry used the least. Never had he feared being inside Hogwarts' walls, but now he did. Dumbledore wouldn't kill a student, would he? But how far would he go to destroy Voldemort?

"Well, have you got a plan?" Harry asked Draco as they sat on a window ledge on the 7th floor. Harry had found the room of requirement after some searching (Voldemort had not been very specific about where on the 7th floor it was located) and he had finally managed to prise Draco from Pansy's clutches.

"A plan for what?" Draco asked. "Do we have to sit here?"

"Yes, we do. It's nice and quiet here and it's what we're supposed to be doing."

"_Supposed _to?" Draco scoffed.

"Yes. Now, do you have a plan for killing Dumbledore?"

"I haven't really thought about it – I mean it's not like we have to do it right now. He said we had until the end of the year."

Harry knew that was going to be Draco's answer. "Look, he wants it done sooner and he's told me to tell you that."

"Fine, I'll have a think about it."

Harry pulled his wand out and dug it into Draco's neck. "You don't seem to understand, Draco. The Dark Lord needs this done as soon as possible and he wants you to do it. I'd suggest you hop to it, because you're in the middle of something much bigger than you think."

Harry's sudden outburst seemed to alert Draco to the situation. "You're becoming more like him. Can you just tell me what's really going on?"

"No, this is on a need to know basis. You need to know that Dumbledore needs to get going, that's all."

Draco got up. "I'm going to see Snape."

Harry continued to watch the room for quite a while more before going into it to explore the room where things were hidden. He had a feeling that this had been the shape that it had taken when Riddle had hidden the diadem.

Cedric Diggory was the talk of the school the next day, having been selected as Hogwarts champion the night before. Personally, Harry hoped it would have been a Slytherin, or at least someone that wasn't a Hufflepuff. Draco didn't care about the Triwaizard Tournament this morning; he had received a letter, delivered by the owl that usually brought Harry's mail from Voldemort. His face had turned pale as he read the letter and once he had finished reading he had pretty much run from the Great Hall.

"What was that letter about?" Harry whispered while they were in Defence Against the Dark Arts that afternoon.

"It was from _him,"_ Draco said.

"I figured. But what was it about?"

Draco gulped. "He told me what you told me, but he said that if I don't do it…he'll…" Draco mumbled something inaudible.

"Speak up a bit."

Draco looked him in the eye. "Harry, he'll kill me."

Hopefully this was just Voldemort's way of threatening people. He wouldn't really kill the son of one of his followers would he? And surely not Draco?

"Harry, you've got to help me. I can't do this on my own."

"What about Snape, isn't he helping you?"

"Yeah, but… Maybe you could ask him for me."

"We should meet up later, all three of us." Harry also had another idea up his sleeve.

When the lesson ended he approached the so called Professor Moody. "Sir, I think I could use your help."

"And what would that be with?"

"A mission," Harry said.

"Come to my office." Once they were behind closed doors, Moody-Crouch asked, "What do you need help with?"

"Has he told you about Draco's job?"

"Aye, but you're not supposed to be involved in that."

"I know, but Draco's my friend. I want to help him. Will you come and meet us later in Snape's office?" Harry asked.

"Alright. But is there anything I can do for _you?_ Maybe some extra tuition – defensive spells, curses, hexes." The idea of defensive spells seemed to have been thrown in to make his other suggestions seem less severe.

"I guess that would be an idea," Harry said.

"Excellent, we'll start with the three unforgivable curses, after dinner tomorrow evening," Moody said and then Harry had to get off to Potions.

Over the next month, Barty Crouch Jr taught Harry many spells, but made sure he could first master his favourites which were the Imperius and Cruciatus curses. While Harry was making progress, Draco wasn't. He had hoped to poison Dumbledore with some spiked meade after the first task, but Severus had put a stop to the plan at the last moment; what if someone drunk it before Dumbledore? The plan just wasn't feasible and could kill more than necessary.

Draco's chance came a few days into December.

"Dumbledore's gone," Severus told them. He had come down to the common room; it signalled that the time had come. They followed him out, up many flights of stairs. "He has gone to find a horcrux and he's taken Neville with him."

"What's a…horcrux, did you say?" Draco asked. "And why did he take Longbottom?"

Snape ignored both questions. "We will lure them back to the Astronomy Tower and that is where you will have your chance, Draco. No one must hurt Longbottom; orders from the Dark Lord. If we succeed back up will be with us shortly – there are others staying in Hogsmeade and the surrounding area tonight."

They reached the top of the Astronomy Tower and they all took a moment to catch their breath.

"Morsmordre!" Snape pointed his wand into the sky and the boys watched as a green skull lit up the night sky, a snake protruding from its mouth. They did not have to wait long for their prey to turn up, on brooms too. Draco and Harry stepped out from the shadows as they dismounted.

"Expelliarmus!" They both yelled, one disarming Dumbledore and the other Neville.

"Petrificus totalus!" Harry froze Neville where he was and then he stepped back, allowing Draco to do what he had to.

"Draco, you are not a killer," Dumbledore said.

An exchange between the young Slytherin and headmaster followed. Draco always kept his wand raised, but he could never bring himself to say the words.

"Come on, Draco," Harry urged. They needed this done, Harry needed Draco to survive.

There was something going on downstairs, voices carrying up to them.

"It appears that members of the Order have arrived," Dumbledore said as he slid further down the wall that was supporting him. "Severus, please."

Snape stepped out for the first time and pointed his wand straight at the old wizard's chest. "Avada kedavra!"

Harry watched, for the second time in his life, as the light left someone's eyes. It did not bother him, unlike Draco who seemed distressed at the sight. Snape rolled up his sleeve and pressed the dark mark burned into his left forearm. From where they stood they could see the gates to the grounds and it burst open momentarily, people robed in black filing in. They were running towards the school and the commotion was on the stairs now, drawing nearer.

"Take the brooms," Snape said. "Find somewhere to hide."

"But what about you?" Harry asked.

"I'll be fine – they still think I'm on their side."

The boys mounted the brooms and flew out so that they were hovering above the grounds.

"Where's a good place to wait?" Draco asked.

Harry didn't hear a word that Draco said; he was already diving to the ground. His saviour had just arrived; Riddle had just walked through the gates, wearing robes instead of a suit for the first time.

"Tom!" Harry yelled in mid-air. "We did it!" He jumped off of the broom a little too quickly and landed in a pile on the ground in front of Riddle.

"You're an excited puppy today."

Harry smiled up at him. "Today's the day, isn't it?"

"Yes, tonight is what I have been planning for since I returned." He pulled Harry to his feet. Draco touched down at that moment.

"Are you going to kill them?" Harry asked.

"Some will be sacrificed for the greater good tonight, but I do not wish to spill more magical blood than necessary." He began to walk towards the school and the boys followed him.

"What happens now?" Harry asked.

"I'm about to take control, they need a new headmaster and I shall give them one. Let's say they'll be under new management. Then we move into the Ministry."

When they reached the school they found carnage inside. Students grouped together fighting Death Eaters, members of the Order taking on 2 at a time. Riddle cast a barrier around them and they walked through unharmed until they reached their destination: the Great Hall. There, Riddle put his wand to his throat and began to talk in a voice that filled the whole of Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore is dead, the school is under my control, the Ministry has fallen," Riddle said, not one hundred per cent true, but they didn't know any better at this moment. "I will give my Death Eaters orders to kill if you do not surrender and gather in the Great Hall within the next few minutes."

People began to pour into the hall, lots of students that were in their pyjamas, having just been woken up, some that had been actively fighting – clothes torn and some bleeding. Harry was sad to see that one of the twins seemed to have lost an ear. Compared to the rest, the Slytherins seemed to be in perfect order. The Death Eaters came in, wands pointing at the teachers they had just been fighting. The last to enter the hall was Sirius, followed closely by Snape. Harry didn't look at Sirius and just watched as Snape strode through the crowd to join him and Draco.

Voldemort surveyed the hall before speaking. "Where is Neville Longbottom?"

Everyone began to look round, whispers erupted. Neville didn't step forward and no one seemed to know where he was. Voldemort looked at Harry and Draco.

"Find him if he can be found in the castle still," he said. The boys left the hall and climbed the first set of stairs.

"Should we split up?" Draco asked.

"I guess – I'll start at the top." Harry started to take the stairs 2 at a time. If he was still here he would be in Gryffindor Tower surely. Wait… Was he alone? He didn't recall seeing Ron and Hermione in the hall.

Their search was fruitless. Neville seemed to have disappeared from Hogwarts somehow. Maybe there were ways out of Hogwarts that Harry didn't know about and he had got out that way. All he knew was that he had gone; the area around his bed was almost empty, as if he had grabbed everything and left for an early holiday. Hadn't anyone seen him? He had been on the Astronomy Tower not too long ago and had vanished so quickly that it seemed unlikely. He must have had more help than Harry knew.

They returned to the hall and told Voldemort what they had found. The Dark Lord did not look as disappointed as they had expected, in fact he looked positively amused.

"It would appear that Neville is more of an adversary than I'd anticipated," Riddle mused. "Makes the game a lot more interesting."

Snape was named headmaster, Defence Against the Dark Arts became just the Dark Arts and the Cruciatus curse was practised on those that misbehaved. They didn't have to suffer for long because the Christmas holidays came and nearly every student went home save for a handful, even some of the teachers disappeared home. The Triwizard Tournament had been called off and the foreign students had been sent back, free from Voldemort's grasp. Of course, Harry was about to have the best Christmas holiday because he was finally living with Riddle, although not in a close way. While Riddle was making final plans to take over the Ministry, he resided in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry found it quite weird at first, but it was actually the best place to hide. One of the pros for Harry was that he was the only other person who could get in being the only one who could speak parseltongue. He had also been the only one who had known the entrance's location, but the students had been snooping around and Moaning Myrtle was more than happy to tell someone if they happened to chance across her bathroom.

When Harry walked into the Chamber on New Year's Eve he found Riddle whispering to the basilisk.

"_Soon, when they return in a week. Sleep for now." _

"_Killing students?" _Harry asked as the basilisk slid back into its lair.

Riddle smiled. "_I almost forgot about our little gift that we share. It's beautiful."_

"_Are you planning something?"_

"_Just a little purge of the school."_

Harry looked down at the desk in the centre of the chamber, it was the only bit of furniture Harry could see, and saw that there was a card on it. Harry picked it up and saw that it said 'happy birthday' signed by many of the Death Eaters.

"It's your birthday?" Harry asked, reverting back to English.

"Yes, not that I care for birthdays much anymore."

"How old are you today?"

"Eighteen," Riddle said.

"No you're not – that body looks eighteen, but you're…" Harry took a moment to count. 16 years old, then 50 years between the Chamber openings and a final 2 years more… "You're 68 then!"

Riddle sighed. "You make me feel so old, so let's just say I'm 18."

"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything." Not that Harry could think what he could possibly get for someone like Voldemort.

"You don't have to get me anything," Riddle said. "You're here and that's a nice treat."

Riddle clearly did not know that if he could, Harry would be here everyday, all day. Harry stood on his toes and pushed down on Tom's shoulders so that he could give him a 'birthday' kiss. Riddle leaned forward so that Harry did not have to strain so much.

"Still short," Riddle said when they broke.

"No, you're just tall," Harry countered. Really it was a mixture of both.

Riddle conjured up a thick fur rug and laid down on it.

"Going to join me?" he asked Harry.

Harry did so and was pulled into Riddle's embrace.

"Harry the time is drawing near for us to rule the world together. Once Longbottom is out the way we will be free to leave here and do what we wish."

"Where is he?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I have people out there looking for him. I guess we'll have to wait until he figures of the locations of the horcruxes. We will corner him here or at Gringotts, and then I shall kill him."

"Does he have to die?" Harry wasn't entirely comfortable with killing the poor boy for no reason. Unless Voldemort had one.

"Yes. I never told you about the Prophecy that was made not long after you were born. It was you or Neville; one would have the power to kill me. I have chosen Neville to be the one that I go up against, so we will fight to the death and I shall be victorious." Harry was surprised that Voldemort would trust in the word of a prophecy, but maybe wizard prophecies were more accurate than the muggle sort that Harry was thinking of. "_Now, back to my birthday and your lack of present." _Harry felt a hand slip under his waistband and figured that there was a present he'd be giving Riddle before he was allowed to leave the chamber.

The rest of that week was spent mainly in the Chamber with Riddle. They played Wizard's chess, Harry had his wine laced with aphrodisiac (on more then one occasion) and they spent the nights together with Harry learning that Tom conjured a bed up whenever he wished to sleep. It was Harry who usually fell asleep first, but that often meant that he woke up before Tom. It wasn't often than anyone witnessed Voldemort sleeping, unaware of the world around him. Harry liked to watch the man with a face that was neutral and unthinking (Harry wondered if Riddle ever stopped thinking when he was awake) and occasionally he lay with his head against Tom's chest, listening to him breathing and his heart beating.

"You're so cute," Tom said. Harry jumped – he thought that Tom was asleep – and moved off his chest. "What's this fascination you have with my chest while I'm asleep?"

Harry blushed. "I…erm…"

"Listening to my heart to make sure I have one?" he laughed.

Harry hid his face in his pillow. How did he always seem to know these things?

"I'm going to miss watching you all day," Tom said.

"What?" Harry was alarmed at the statement. "Where are you going?"

Riddle smiled. "I'm not going anywhere – you are! School resumes tomorrow and I expect you to be upstairs learning while I finally get my man into power at the Ministry." Harry let out a sigh of relief; at least he wasn't going away. _"So, up for one more round?"_

Harry giggled. "_Of course, my love."_

Riddle rolled on top of Harry and pinned him down. _"I'm not going to go easy this time," _Riddle growled.

The next few months were some of the happiest Harry would ever have. He spent as much time as he could in the company of Riddle who was not as swamped in what Harry called 'work.' Taking the Ministry down from the inside had gone smoothly which made way for an uninterrupted purge of Hogwarts. Voldemort had sent the basilisk on a rampage to kill every mudblood in the school. Once people began to realise the danger they were in they began to flee. However, they were up against Tom Riddle, once a student of the school who had discovered more of its secrets than most. Every known passage out of the school was blocked and he had placed a Death Eater to constantly watch over the Room of Requirement. Those who were muggle born were not often seen alone, they now grouped with others who had at least one magical parent and if they couldn't find one in their common room they wouldn't set foot outside the portrait hole. A select few were left unharmed; those in Slytherin walked around the school without fear – perhaps because the basilisk did not wish to harm those chosen to be in its master's house. Draco had got back with Pansy (she had dumped him when he was being difficult due to his mission) and so he did not bat an eyelid when Harry ended up spending every night down in the Chamber.

They lived in bliss until one day when Harry's happy world was turned upside down. He had gone down to the Chamber for their now nightly meeting and found Riddle sitting in his chair, staring up at the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Harry walked over and sat on the arm of the chair.

"What are you thinking about, love?" Harry asked. It wasn't often that he came in to find Riddle contemplating things in such a way – he hadn't done so for many months.

Riddle smiled, but it was strained. "The time has come, Harry." Excitement began to build. "Longbottom and his two friends infiltrated Gringotts this afternoon."

"That's what we've been waiting for, right?"

"Yes, but he got away on a dragon that was guarding the vaults."

Harry frowned. "So, what happens now?"

"We wait once more."

"But surely…I mean… He knows where to go next, right?"

"We're not with them; we have no idea what they're thinking. However, I do think that Hogwarts will be their next stop."

"Then we'll just have to be patient," Harry said, trying to be positive about the situation.

Riddle sighed. "It's not just that they got away. They took something from the vault."

"The horcrux?" Harry asked.

"Yes. After all the protection I placed around it they still managed to steal it. What if my other protection isn't good enough?"

This was the first time that Harry had heard Riddle use such a tone and show so much doubt in himself. Where was his usual confidence?

"Of course your protection is good enough – I'll admit to looking for that diadem upstairs and I haven't found it after days of searching. As for me, you'll always be there to protect me, right?"

"I can't guarantee that," Tom said. "What if they managed to kill me somehow? In the time that I am in that limbo state I won't be there."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle!" Harry said in his best impression of Snape and his fatherly tone. "I don't know when you started to doubt yourself, but after coming this far I don't expect to hear this kind of thing from you. You're the Dark Lord Voldemort after all. So what if Longbottom managed to destroy a horcrux or two? You'll still have me and the diadem. And once you've silenced the boy the horcruxes will be almost obsolete. You'll be unstoppable – no one will ever have the balls to try and kill you again! Think about how long you lasted before that night 13 years ago – you can do this, Tom. I believe in you."

Riddle got up and hugged Harry tightly. "Thanks, Harry. I'm just a bit over protective of my soul, that's all. Oh, and that was probably the most adorable thing you've ever done." Harry blushed and was glad that his face was hidden in Riddle's suit (he had reverted back to suits as he found that they were must more interesting to remove when they got together). Tonight though, Riddle wasn't in a mood to entertain Harry and for the first time in weeks Harry was sent back to his dormitory.

"Harry, come with me."

It was the following evening and for the first time since his arrival, Riddle had come out of hiding during the day, in full view of students (who ran when they saw him coming) and walked straight into the Slytherin common room. He had come for Harry it seemed, after 2 years of waiting.

"We've been infiltrated, via the Room of Requirement," Riddle said. "Quite ironic, but I'm happy to let them use it while it's taking a different form. I'm going to hide you away from the fight – stay where I put you."

"Where's that?"

"The Shrieking Shack. I won't be staying with you – in order to find Longbottom I will have to stay closer, maybe even join in."

They reached the Whomping Willow and walked down the tunnel together. Upon seeing that it was empty Riddle nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait," Harry said. Riddle turned round and Harry reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips. "In case one of us doesn't make it. I love you, Tom."

Riddle smiled. "I don't intend to die, Harry. I think you'll find that in the end it'll be me living without you, after all, you harbour a piece of me as long as you live." Then he left.

Harry sat on the old bed and wondered what was happening back at the school. Nothing much had been going on when they had left, but he was sure that a full fight must have broken out by now. What would happen if Voldemort was killed? Would he be sacrificed in order to bring him back to life? He wouldn't mind if that's how it turned out; he had accepted that fate 2 years ago. Yet he couldn't help but feel that there could be another way…

A long time passed before anything happened in the shack. Maybe it had been half an hour, but possibly an hour, or more. Someone was coming down the tunnel. He could hear their heavy breathing and footsteps. Harry jumped up and held his wand out in front of him, pointing it at the broken door.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew out of his hand.

"Ron!" Harry cried when the red head walked in, also armed with his wand. Ron looked rough, he was thinner than before, hair longer and he was bleeding from a few cuts and grazes he had picked up.

"Harry…I'm glad I found you," Ron said without lowering his wand.

"What's going on out there?"

"There's a big battle going on up at the school. I stepped over some bodies on the way here, but I don't know if they were dead or not… The Death Eaters have been aiming to kill though."

"Where's Voldemort?" Harry asked his burning question.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"Where have you been? You seemed to disappear all those months ago."

"Me, Hermione and Neville went out looking for the horcruxes," Ron began. "It's been rough, camping out in forests, but we got somewhere. Dumbledore and Neville got one that night he was killed. The locket."

"What? They found it?" Harry was shocked. Of all the horcruxes, this had been the one that Riddle had been least worried about to the point where they didn't mention it anymore. After Snape had retrieved it, Riddle had replaced the locket in the cave, deciding that it was somewhere Dumbledore would never find.

"It was in a cave _he _had visited when he was a kid."

"Dumbledore's a smart man," Harry said.

"We managed to destroy it after a long time of searching for something that could. Then we had to track down another one. Again it was a long time before we found it. The cup was difficult to get, but we got it. Then tonight, we came here. Ravenclaw's diadem, keeping with the tradition that You-Know-Who has of ancient objects. We found it and it was destroyed by Crabbe's fiendfyre. It was brilliant – he destroyed everything in the room of requirement! Dumbledore told us that there were six…and that you were the last one. So I'm here, for you, Harry."

He now wished that he still had his wand. Could he reach it in time? "Are you going to kill me, Ron?"

Ron's face screwed up. "Yes," he said shakily. "That's why I'm here. You need to die so that we can save the wizarding world."

The worst part was that Harry understood exactly what Ron was saying. He knew deep down that Voldemort was just like Hitler who he had learned about back in muggle school. Yet, his love for Riddle blinded him now; he couldn't bear to kill Voldemort which he would do by giving himself up. Maybe this was his time to be the hero, to listen to his head rather than his heart. And if he did get his wand, would he be able to kill Ron to save himself?

Ron watched as Harry deliberated. "What are you thinking, Harry?"

"You're right, Ron. You were always right and I've sometimes wished I was in Gryffindor so that I could have been better friends with you. But I love him, Ron. Tom, Voldemort…he understands me like no one else can. I want to save him, but I'll never be able to change his mind on certain things. But I want to save you and Hermione too. Save my dad, my god father, everyone who makes this world the wonderful place it was when I first entered it four years ago. So yeah…" Harry realised what his speech was leading up to. "I'm going to give myself up…" He paused for a moment. "Ron, I want to tell you the truth about your sister. I let her die down in the Chamber that night. I stood by as Riddle was brought back to life. I don't know how I would have stopped him, but I never tried either. So, kill me and take your vengeance."

Harry could see the tears in Ron's eyes as he raised his wand to point it at Harry's chest.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Then Ron mouthed the curse, but no sound came out.

"Ron, you can do this. I helped to murder your sister. Now say it with conviction."

Ron gritted his teeth. "A…avada…avada kedavra!" As the jet of green light shot from Ron's wand, he hid his face. He heard Harry's body fall to the floor and took a moment to prepare himself for the sight of the person that he had just killed with his own hands. He didn't want to check if Harry was dead – he looked it from afar, but he had to check. They had come so far and couldn't afford to do this part less thoroughly than everything else. He bent down and placed a hand over Harry's heart. Ron jumped as he felt a beat and slumped back against the wall. How was it possible that Harry could have survived a killing curse?

"Harry?" Ron whispered. There was no answer and Ron sat there for a few minutes, waiting for Harry to regain consciousness.

Five minutes passed before Harry's eyelids fluttered open.

"Harry!" Ron yelled in surprise.

Harry sat up slowly and looked at Ron, his face reflecting his shock.

"Ron… I just… I just met Dumbledore and my mum and James. It was weird."

"How are you alive?" Ron asked.

"You…you killed the horcrux part of me, but I'm still alive." Harry still didn't quite believe that he was still here and that he had just spoken to the people he just had. "Ron – I'm not a horcrux anymore!" It was as if saying it aloud made it more real. He felt free… Now he could begin to live for himself once more and without fear of being sacrificed for another's cause. "I need to go," Harry said. "Thanks, Ron."

Ron nodded in a daze – since when did people thank you for killing them?

Harry ran through the tunnel and back out where he could see people fighting in the grounds. Where was Voldemort though? It was as if Harry's had called out, because Voldemort responded.

His voice rang out as it once had many months ago. "Neville Longbottom, you have allowed your friends to die, but I want no more magical blood to be spilt. You have an hour to give yourself up. When you are ready, come to me in the Forbidden Forest. If you fail to the carnage will resume, for now I will recall my followers."

Harry raced across the grounds to the forest where he could see figures in black heading towards. Voldemort was not too far in and Harry reached him quickly.

"Tom! Tom!" Harry ran to him and fell into his arms. "You have to stop this!"

"What's wrong, my dear? Have you had a sudden change of heart?"

Harry took a moment to catch his breath. "They've destroyed all of the horcruxes, you're mortal once more."

Voldemort exploded in a rage, but he kept it as contained as possible. "What do you mean by that, Harry? You're still living are you not?"

"Dumbledore knew far more than we thought and Ron…he killed me. He killed the horcrux part of me – I saw people who had passed on. Then I came back and I had to warn you."

"So, did this Ron show you any evidence of the destroyed horcruxes?" Riddle asked. "Or maybe he told you how he destroyed them?"

Harry realised that Ron had not given any of this evidence. Yet he had seen other things while he had been at the dreamy King's Cross. "I saw them," Harry said.

"The horcruxes?" Riddle yelled.

"No… The remnants of your soul. As each one was destroyed they bound together to form you. What you would look like if you were the age you actually are. But you looked snake like, your eyes entirely red and your nose completely flat. It was he that told me that only you were needed to complete him."

"Have you been hallucinating?" Riddle asked.

"It was all real. And Ron has never lied to me. Why would he start now? I'll prove it to you."

"And how will you do that?"

"Remember that spell you cast to seal yourself inside me so that my scar wouldn't burn every time we were close? Undo it." Harry was aware that they were now gaining an audience as the Death Eaters gathered around their Lord, but Riddle did not seem bothered by their presence. He put his thumb on Harry's scar and traced it once before pulling Harry into the same passionate kiss they had shared when he had sealed the spell.

When he pulled away Harry looked up at him, his scar not even tingling. "Did you undo it?"

"Yes. And you feel nothing at all?"

"Not a thing," Harry assured him.

Riddle looked into his eyes and saw no trace of pain. Perhaps Harry was telling the truth and he was once again mortal. He looked over at Snape who had been watching the whole exchange.

"Severus, did you let slip more information to Dumbledore than I wished you to?"

Snape was unable to say anything, unable to lie to Voldemort and not brave enough to speak the truth.

"I am disappointed in you. Did you not think that your son would be saved if Dumbledore had continued to think that there were seven?"

"It was a slip of the tongue," Snape said.

"Don't lie to me, Severus. I know that you have never been able to forgive me since I killed Lily that night. Yet I believed that you would remain faithful for your son's sake. Clearly I was mistaken." Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Snape. "I regret this, but I cannot continue to put my trust in you."

Harry saw what was going to happen and placed himself between his father and Riddle. "I can't let you do this."

"Harry, please move out of the way." It wasn't often the Dark Lord was so polite.

"No. You can't kill him. I won't let you!"

Snape opened his mouth to speak, but Voldemort was quicker. "People who betray me do not get away with it; Severus knows that better than most. Now if you would step aside or I'll be forced to kill you first."

Harry was hurt at the thought that Riddle would cast his aside so lightly after all the months they spent together. "How can you say that? I thought we understood each other?"

"We do, but there are others like us. I know you thought about it. But you were special because you were mine – my horcrux. You're no longer of use to me."

For the first time in his life, Harry felt tears prick his eyes. He felt stupid. All this time he had thought that they had shared the same feelings, because they were the unwanted children, the orphans who had lost their mothers, but now he realised that it had just been a case of Riddle loving himself. It was crushing him where he stood.

"How could you?" Harry whispered.

"I'm Lord Voldemort." Riddle smirked. "One last chance, Harry – move or die. I don't really want to lose you."

That last part almost made Harry move, but he had already decided what had to be done and nothing could change his mind.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A body fell to the ground; a gasp came from every Death Eater that witnessed the scene.

Through the trees came Neville Longbottom who looked at the scene in front of him: Harry stood with his wand outstretched and Voldemort lay on the floor in front of him. The Dark Lord had been defeated for the last time.

Harry looked around and spotted Neville. "It's over," he said. "Go and tell everyone up at the school." Neville scurried away and Harry looked around at the Death Eaters. He felt as if he had inherited them. "Leave." Some of them moved away quickly, but the most loyal remained.

"What have you done?" Bellatrix screamed at him.

"I've saved us all from a life of servitude," Harry said. "The wizarding world did not need a dictator like Voldemort." He could see that some of those before him would be unable to go back to the normal life he wished they could have. Many would probably be thrown back into Azkaban.

"If you have a problem, you'll have to go through me," Snape said as he stepped forward upon seeing Bellatrix reaching for her wand.

Harry walked with Snape by his side back up to the castle. They walked into the Great Hall where everyone had gathered and were greeted with applause. Harry was called a saviour and they welcomed him like the hero he hadn't been until tonight. Ron and Hermione were there and he was glad to see them both safe. They came up to him and embraced him, thanking him.

"Harry." Hermione took his hand and led him to the side of the hall where the dead lay. Harry saw faces of those he had seen in the corridors and some who were clearly members of the Order, but there was one person who shouldn't have been there. Sirius laid there, his last laugh still etched on his face. Harry knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his face. He had never wanted to lose his god father; in fact, he had looked forward to spending time with him now that Voldemort was gone. But now that would remain a dream and Harry would forever regret that he had only ever spent a precious few hours with Sirius.

Then there was Fred. Harry felt as if he would never be able to look Ron in the eye again. He was now part of the cause of two deaths in the Weasley family. Maybe Ron should kill him once more for good measure.

Harry sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands. He had been through so much tonight. At the start of it he had been trying to save Riddle's life and by the end of it he had killed him, the one he had loved. That was a fact that would never change as much as he would regret falling into Riddle's trap. But hadn't Riddle confessed to having feelings for him too? Perhaps it really was all just a lie to get Harry on his side. Harry felt an arm around his shoulders and looked up to see Snape.

"I'm proud of you, son."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, dad." The sudden closeness triggered something in Harry and in seconds he was crying, letting out all the pain of love and loss, everything he had bottled up in the forest and everything he felt when he saw the dead. Snape pulled him close and held him while he let out all of his emotions. Harry wondered if he had changed because he no longer had a part of Voldemort's soul inside of him.

They were going home after a long night, walking through the now silent grounds of Hogwarts.

"What made you kill him?" Snape asked. "I was under the impression you two were in love."

"We were – or at least I thought we were. Until he said all of those things," Harry said. "Then I realised what I had to do. And revenge of that kind was the sweetest. I think that I had it right when I was eleven – kill Voldemort and avenge my mother and James."

Snape smiled. "I'll say it again: I'm proud. More than you know. Lily and James would be too. More of a Gryffindor like them than a Slytherin like me. It sounds like you showed a great amount of bravery when you gave yourself up to Weasley."

Harry nodded. "If I hadn't have done it then we wouldn't be in this state of peace now. I'll tell you something that Voldemort didn't know. He didn't know that I am the one that the prophecy referred to. No matter how much he wanted it to be Neville; it's been me since the night in Godric's Hollow. I didn't want to accept the fact that it was me that would have to kill him, but he pushed me. I couldn't let him kill you. I couldn't lose another parent. More importantly I couldn't let him lie to me and use me anymore."

"Let's start afresh then," Snape said. "From the moment we step through the front door."

They reached the gates and disapparated.

Life became comparatively peaceful from that night on. The summer passed and Hogwarts was reopened with McGonagall as headmistress and Snape was allowed to return (as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts to his joy). Harry returned for his final years which he spent more in the company of Ron and his friends as opposed to Draco who was still with Pansy at the end of their seventh year. Harry came to terms with his mistakes and found that people forgave him. They reasoned that if he had not taken the path that he did then it probably would have been a much longer journey to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Some days Harry did find himself reminiscing about the past and wishing that Riddle was still there to hold him when he felt most alone. But when he found himself in such a state he remembered why it was done and what Voldemort had told him at King's Cross. Even there where everyone seemed so knowledgeable, the snake-like Voldemort had insisted that what he wanted to achieve was right, but he expressed regret about the horcruxes and told Harry that the sooner the last piece of his soul left the world the better it would be.

Never in Harry's life would he find someone like Riddle again. No one would claim to understand him in such a way and Harry would never feel that same affection for an outsider. He spent the rest of his life without love, finally understanding what Tom Riddle had described to him all those years ago.

A/N: I…think that's it. XD So many things changed since its inception… And there were so many different possible endings. I just hope I picked the right one. ^^; Please review – I'd really appreciate any thoughts on this one.


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